Black as the Blood In Our Names
by TimeAndLife21
Summary: Regulus was drowning.Or At Least he thought he was until a woman of light came to him to offer a second chance. Thrown back into the world of the living, He basically plans from thin air to work around the new world he is in now. He will be helping Harry Potter go against the Dark Lord and saves Sirius from dying by Bella's Hand. Looks like Harry has perfect Ally on his side. AU
1. Chapter 1

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_

by TimeAndLife21

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><p>The last thing he could remember was the cold fears gripping his mind and driving him into madness. The burning feeling of the Dementor like potion was so painful to drink. He needed water to ease the pain in his throat. He could hear himself shouting at his house-elf, Kreatcher to take the locket and get the hell out of the cave before the inferi reached out to him and dragged him under the waters.<p>

He could hear the words whispering to him about his foolishness for betraying the Dark Lord. But he knew he had done it for a reason. No man, Muggle or Wizard, should ever do dark magic such as this. He could feel the waters rushing into his body. His thoughts turned to his family...or at least what was left of it. Most of his thoughts was when he was younger with his older brother, Sirius.

_"Siri! We'll ALWAYS be family right? No matter what?"_

He recalled his seven year old self looking up at his older brother, who was just a year older than he was. He remembered that day. The day when he and his brother just sat in the greenhouse that his ancestral home had. It was a sunny day. The same silver eyes that he held looked down at him.

_"Yeah, Reggie. No matter what."_

The only good memory he had before his brother and himself were ripped apart by different views. He could feel himself being dragged down bellow, deeper and deeper...

Thump.

_What?_

Thump.

_What was that?_

Thump.

_My...heart?_

Thump-Thump.

_Do I really...want to die for this?_

Thump-Thump-Thump.

_No. I don't want to die like this._

Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump.

_I **DON'T** want to die!_

Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump-Thump.

_**You don't want to die? Very well.**_

He never realized how far below he was pulled down by the inferi. But somehow, they loosened their grip on him and suddenly he was surrounded by bright light. He opened his eyes, seeing a woman in front of him. She was fairly short, but very slender and petite. Her hair kept changing colors from red, to brown, to black, to blonde. Some times turning into corkscrews, or straight as a pin, or soft waves. It seemed that she was wearing a very thin material that was similar to a dress, yet it looked like she wasn't wearing anything at all. Completely unashamed.

"Who...Who are you?" His voice croaked a little.

The woman only smiled.

"You don't want to die, do you, Little King?" She spoke.

Regulus could only swallow. He didn't realized that the burning pain from the potion was gone. He believed it all a dream.

"I...I never wanted to die...but I had to. I couldn't let...I could let that..." Anger swelled up in him.

"So what do you want to do now?" The ever changing woman asked.

Regulus paused. He wondered if he was truly dead now. But that notion left his mind. What did he want to do? He had entered the cave with every intention of dying. Yet...he didn't want to die. He didn't want to die...not like that. Memories flashed in his mind. Sirius. Severus. Narcissa. Andromeda. Lily. Lucius. Friends and family. They flashed across his vision; he could feel the hot tears run down his face. He wanted nothing more than to help them. Help get them to safety and take down the Dark Lord.

"Well?" The woman asked.

Regulus closed his eyes, hearing his heartbeat. Stronger than ever. He could also feel his magic coursing through him. He wanted...He wanted freedom. He wanted to fight for it. He wanted revenge for those who have died in the war needlessly. Purebloods. Half-Bloods. Muggleborns. Muggles. Squibs. He wanted to stand against Vode- no, Tom Marvalo Riddle for reducing the magical populations and killing mindlessly the innocents that he had so been adamant on destroying. No More. He saw the woman smiled every so slightly.

"Well, Lionheart? What is your decision?" She said gently.

"I want to go back. I can't let them fall. Those who are fighting for the right. Not just the light and dark. For for something that is good and never evil." He spoke honestly.

"My brother. My Friends. My Family. I refuse to have them die. Please. Send me back." He asked.

The woman gazed at him with a light that is akin to love.

"I will sent you back, Regulus Arcturus Black, but keep in mind that you will not be in the same time that you was supposedly dead." She warned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It will be 16 years since your death, Lionheart. And you will appear in the Department of Mysteries and emerge from The Veil. But be quick to hide, until the time is right." She cautioned.

"The time is right? How will I..." He trailed off.

"Your mind has always been older than your current self. When you return your mind will have the information needed to help you in your journey." She said as she held out her hands in a complacent way.

"I will know everything that has happened?" He simplified.

"Time for us is short, Little King. I send you back to the World of the Living." She waved her hand and a pitch black wand appeared in front of Regulus.

He felt his arm reach for it and as he grasped the handle, he felt the white world around him blurring.

"I can only hope that your being alive will save lives. Do not disappoint me." She said kindly.

"Wait! WHO ARE YOU? TELL ME!" He shouted before the white world suddenly turned on it's axis and he felt a force throwing him out into the darkness.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Geez…another prompt, another day with an Idea that would sound so freaking awesome. And Yes this is pretty Much AU. I honestly don't know about this one. I know where it can take me, but in honestly, I'll keep writing it until I exhaust the idea. Meaning that i won't post any chapters until after _**NaNoWriMo.**_ That is reserved for _**History Before The X-Men.**_So i hope you liked this prompt and tell me if it sounds good enough to continue or not. See you guys later! :D

_**Question: ** _What would you like to see come out of this story? What Awesome sauce ideas do you want to see in here?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p><em><strong>Department of Mysteries: May 7th 1995 Midnight, Full Moon.<strong>_

The Veil in the Department of Mysteries had suddenly shifted into a dangerous color. Once was a black glowing shadow now turned brilliant translucent white. With No Unspeakable around to see this strange phenomenon, no one would even notice its strange behavior. Suddenly, out it spat a young man dressed in black, tumbling down the steps that had lead up to the strange object that has sat there for ages.

Regulus had decided that death wasn't all that fun anyways. He coughed a few times before struggling to get up. His muscles were thin from years of disuse and his throat was dry as a desert. But his mind went into survival mode. The years he spent as a Death Eater made him a hardened and slightly paranoid man, and the first thing he thought of was, _"How many people are here?"_

With the black wand that was in his hand, he nonverbally cast a spell to see how many people were in the vicinity. None. No one was around. He staggered to his feet only to fall back down again onto his knees. He gave a frustrated growl. His mind was going fast. Strategies and ideas came to mind. He could apparate out of here. He just had to think where would be the safest place. Grimmauld Manor? Flashes of people and of Sirius, older now and more thin than he last saw him was there. The flashes stopped. Okay, that ruled out Grimmauld Manor. He couldn't even ask for Kreatcher to come.

_"Think Regulus, THINK!"_ He thought hard to himself.

Where would the safest place be for him? He thought of the manor in France, but that was most likely given to Narcissa. His safe house in muggle London? No. Most likely rented out. Ugh! He wanted a safe place to recover and to plan things out. Wait...there was ONE safe house. He had to be MAD to even think of it. Well, madness does run in the Black Family even if it did show up every few generations. Bellatrix was proof of it. Was he that desperate?

...Apparently he was. He wondered if it was still there. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. He could take a chance on it though. He felt strength course through him and he stood up. He bent his head down as his hair was shadowing his face. He took a few deep breathes. He pictured the clearing. Yes, he could see it well. The Cottage that was so simple to put up before he had taken the dark mark. It wasn't too deep in that forest. He had to stay near civilization enough to make sure that no one would be the wiser. Under the Fidelius, He was his own Secret Keeper. No one else knew about that place.

He took another deep breath. He could feel the anti-apparation wards in the Department Of Mysteries, he could feel himself being stopped, as if he hit a brick wall. But he, Regulus Arcturus Black, knew a way out of the wards. Fooling his mind into thinking that he hit the wards, he apparated out with a sharp CRACK! The only evidence that he was truly there was the wisp of smoke that signified his being there, before disappearing into the air.

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><p>...Perhaps, it wasn't one of his smartest ideas to apparate so soon after coming back to life. He had retched onto the ground the moment he touched down onto it. Merlin! He felt weak. He hadn't felt like this since he took the Cruciatus Curse from his mother for speaking out to her about his brother running away to the Potters. He dry heaved a few times before he could get his bearings. He knew the sooner he could get to his safe house, the sooner he could pass out happily onto a bed and fall into the inviting darkness.<p>

He looked around blearily. His sight was a bit blurred. He must still be trying to get used to the fact that he was dead.

FOR SIXTEEN YEARS.

He sighed, the stench of his own sick wafted into his nose. He wrinkled his nose, just his damned luck. He pulls a Gryffindor, only to be poisoned and dragged to the depths of the cold waters by inferi, meets a woman with some sort of astral power that he could only hear of back in the Black Family Tomes, gets brought back to life, and now is in this Merlin forsaken place. Yup. He was in a shitty place at the moment. But that didn't stop him. Not by a long shot.

He stumbled around a bit before falling to his knees to calm his rushing mind. If he wants to arrive at the safe house, SAFELY, he would have to calm his mind, magic, and self, down before doing anything more. He took deep meditation breaths before he remembered where he was at. The Forbidden Forest. There was a reason why he made a cottage/safe house out here. Who would dare enter the Forbidden Forest to find a house that shouldn't exist? You don't. He remembered when he was just shy of 17 years old, a year after he had taken the Dark Mark. If he had a choice, he would've been placed in Ravenclaw if he got his way, but he didn't. Not when he was under the threat of Walburga Black. But at least he knew how Magical Construction worked.

He always did pride himself on how much knowledge he could use for himself. He never even told Narcissa about his skills. He slowly got up this time and slowly made his way down an old path that hasn't been tended to in years.

_ "Good, makes it harder for it to be found."_ He thought to himself.

He could feel his magic strengthening him, but it could only take him so far.

_"Weak, Sickly little thing."_

_ "It's a wonder how he even lived after he was born." _

_"That's the second son of the Walburga and Orion Black, right? Geez Look how small he is." _

_"This is your little brother, Siri? Wow, what a scrawny thing."_

He moaned as the memories rushed back at him. He ran his hand over his face before shaking his head, laughing bitterly. Well, at least he grew up pretty well. Sure he was a bit small, but at a decent hight of 6'0. That's as tall as his father was. Unlike his brother, he was lean and toned. From those years of Quidditch and physical training he had to do to survive working for Volde-no, Tom Riddle. He paused in his walking. Tom Marvalo Riddle. Half-Blooded Bastard of a near squib and a muggle. Granted, his view on muggles and muggleborns, and half-bloods was changed, but that didn't mean that he would look upon them with disgust. Tolerance maybe. But Tom? No. He would kill him. He would...

He sighed again. There he goes again thinking Gryffindor thoughts. His silver eyes went up to the sky as he stood up straight, his hair was still messed up from his apparation, but he didn't feel vain enough to run his hands through his hair to fix it. He closed his eyes and relished the cool night air. He never thought that he would be able to feel anything anymore since he had planned out his death. He never expected to be saved at all. He kept moving.

He didn't know how long he was walking the path, but at least he was on the right track. A bit of time passed before he came across the very cottage that was his safe house. It wasn't grand, but it would do. He passed through the wards and went up to the old redwood door and placed his hand on the cold metal knob. He opened it up and the lights turned on. The soft lights from the candles in the cottage was bathed in a soft light that lit up the rooms. After closing the door behind him he looked a round. It was a bit bare. A kitchen was there with not very many appliances, a table with only one chair at it, a large couch was in front of a larger burning fireplace if he turned to his right, there was a door there that lead to his bedroom. He ignored the hungry feeling in his stomach in favor of going to sleep.

He opened the door to his bedroom and saw the Slytherin green and silver covers on the large bed. A small fire place was on the left side of the room, keeping it a bit warm. There was a side table for anything and if he went to the right side, there was another door to a Bathroom. There was a medium sized closet, no doubt filled with extra clothes. Good thing he planned ahead about this place. He sighed again and went over to his bed. As he fell on top of it, the moment his head hit the silk pillows, he was out.

Falling into the warm darkness, and dreamed of being under water, being pulled down, down, down...

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_ Seriously? I have other stories to work on and this is what i'm coming up with? Ugh, I must be suicidal to even start another story when i have so many others. Oh well. So updates will be sporadic and depending on the time i have to write more chapters. So, who knows if I will update in the next week or so. Or maybe even today if i put my mind to it. Maybe i will. So here's the sec on chapter and i hope you enjoyed it. _**PLEASE REVIEW AND SHARE YOUR OPINION! **_It's always nice to hear from people to improve on my writing. See you next chapter!

_**Question Time:**_ If you were to go change up the Harry Potter Books, what three things would you have changed?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_

by TimeAndLife21

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><p>The first things that he thought of when he woke up the next night was a little something like this.<p>

_"I need potions. I need Food. I need Papers. I need money. I need a new name."_

Potions were essential. He would need them. He already had a potions cabinet in the other room, but most likely they expired. Save for the Veratissium and Felix Felicius, those never expire. He got up quickly, only to regret it as pain ran down his spine and his arms and legs. He collapsed on his bed and curled into a fetal position. He let out harsh breaths as he shivered in the pain that over came him.

He forced himself to think of the things he needed to get rid of the pain. Food was necessary. If he needed to get back into shape, he would have to need the correct food to keep him going, which is why Hogsmeade was at least 15 miles east for him. Papers and money...he would have to go to Gringotts and find his old advisor for the Black Family. He would revert to an old alias that he hadn't used since he was sixteen.

Rex Whitestone.

Close to his name if only a little bit. He would have to get news from the last 16 years. But how?

He thought about Kreacher. He really didn't want to reveal himself so soon, but he realized that it would be a bit easier if his house-elf friend was around to help him out. He took a deep breath against the still going pain, but he let out a pained grunt. He pushed himself up off the bed and sat there crosslegged. Taking another breath, he hoped this worked.

"Kreacher!" He said hoarsely.

A crack echoed through out the cottage. He heard mutterings and words from the other room.

"Who calls Kreacher? Who?" He heard the deep croak of his long time friend.

"Kreacher?" He smiled as he stumbled to get up and walked over to the door.

As he opened it, Regulus couldn't help but smile. The little house-elf was looking back and forth in this strange cottage.

"Kreacher!" He said louder.

The big eared house elf turned to him with a foul look on his face, only for it to drop in astonishment as his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as he stared at him.

Regulus could only smile at him. Kreacher hadn't changed much. Still wearing the pillow casing that he donned as his clothes and his skin as dirty as ever, but it was still Kreacher.

"Master Regulus? Is it Master Regulus?" Kreacher could only speak in a tone that is considered awe.

Regulus nodded slowly and smiled at him.

"Kreacher, I'm glad you are still alive." He chuckled as he stumbled forward, the pain in his spine a bit much for him to handle and he fell to his knees.

"Master!" Kreacher could only jump forward to hug his supposed long dead master.

Regulus could only catch the house-elf and engulfed him into a hug. He could feel the tears coming to his eyes.

"Kreacher, knows this is no dream! Master Regulus of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black is ALIVE!" The house-elf cried in his arms.

Regulus could only stiffen at the fact that he was pretty damn well ALIVE. This wasn't a dream. This wasn't an Afterlife. This was real. He stood in the state of stupor of only a few minutes until he heard Kreacher speak of the locket. That snapped him to attention.

"Locket? Kreacher, did you destroy the locket?" He asked as he stopped Kreacher in his tirade. Regulus could feel a bit of a buzzing feeling in the back of his mind.

Kreacher could only bow in front of Regulus and speak pitifully.

"Kreacher could not destroy the locket, Master, Kreacher tried, Oh! How Kreacher tried. Spent many days, hiding from Lady Black to destroy wretched thing, such darkness inside that locket, but Kreacher failed!" Kreacher cowed as he pulled on his ears as punishment.

"Kreacher, stop pulling your ears." He ordered strongly. Kreacher complied and looked at Regulus contemplatively.

Regulus knew that the locket was hard to destroy. It was a... he shivered just thinking about it. A Horcrux. When he put the pieces of the puzzle together when Tom spoke of living forever, he went to the Black Family library to look for information about dark objects that can help someone live for longer than what was naturally intended. He remembered reading the ancient tome, that Horcuxes were used back in the days of the Aztecs and Egyptians.

Although, the Aztecs were the ones who coined the name, while the Egyptians used it for a more longer purpose. The Aztecs used a live sacrifice and the wizards back then would seal only one piece of their soul into a large stone telling that they will live for x amount of years before finally dying doing their duty. It was usually soldiers who would make Horcruxes. A bloody mess, if he said so himself.

The Egyptians on the other hand, they only made Horcuxes for the Pharaohs of old. No one is allowed to create a Horcrux except the Pharaoh himself. It was actually Pharaoh Rameses the third who made warnings to those creating Horcruxs. For creating a Horcurx is a dark ritual and something not to be taken lightly. To split your soul means to take away all the good in your life and destroy it with one spell. Which was interesting. Hardly any of the Pharaohs, save for maybe three in history whose names have disappeared from history, created Horcruxes. Unfortunately, the tomes never said anything about how to destroy them. The fact the Tom made three of those damned things made him wonder about the properties about the magic numbers. If he made three, surely he nothing would stop him from making seven of the damned things. He would have to do a bit of research.

He was about to go rather deep in thought until the pain in his spine stuck him again. He shouted in pain before falling to the floor.

"Master Regulus! Why didn't tell Kreacher that Master was hurt! Kreacher should bring Master Regulus back to Grimmauld place. Yes, Kreacher should." Kreacher said as he fussed about Regulus muttering things about him being too thin.

"Master should eat." He spoke in disdain.

"Kreacher, I can't return to Grimmauld place, no matter how much I want to return there." He said as he struggled to get up and shuffled back into his bedroom, with Kreacher on his heels.

He flopped onto his bed and groaned. If he mother could hear him, he would get an earful.

_"Blacks do not show weakness or pain, nor do they bow and break to others."_ He remembered her telling him.

"Well, if we don't bow to others, why the hell did we bow down to that madman?" He muttered to himself.

"Master Regulus is speaking to self? Not good. May end up like Lady Black." Kreacher said seriously.

Regulus chuckled at his little quip. Although, he kept it in the back of his mind that there was no way he would end up like his mother...hopefully.

"Kreacher, I need you to help me with my pain. Think you can do something about it?" He asked as he felt another shot of pain.

Kreacher hopped onto the bed and snapped his fingers. Regulus's shirt had disappeared and he felt the cold air on his back, despite the warm fireplace in the room.

"Master Regulus has suffered much, he has." As Kreacher placed a boney hand on his back.

Regulus sighed in relief as Kreacher's magic flowed through him, erasing the pain in his body and warm and cold relief ran through his veins. All those years about hearing about how house-elves, goblins, centaurs, and other creatures of the magical world that are considered 'animals', obviously has not studied their magic. Specifically the goblins and house-elves. Their magics were on a completely different kind of plane than witches and wizards. If anything, witches and wizards wouldn't be where they are at if it wasn't for goblins and house-elves. He recalled a theory when he was young, his uncle Alphard Black, told him that Goblins and house-elves magics come from what is called, "Ancient Magics." Basically magics that has been around for thousands of years, and Goblins and House-elves cultivated that magics to assist them in their doings. Which is why Regulus was always nice to House-elves, no matter how bitter they are.

"Master has scars all over back, yes he does, Kreacher remove those for master, yes?" Kreacher asked.

Regulus thought for a few moments before shaking his head.

"No, leave them." He said as he remembered the claws and hands that pulled him down under. Ripping and tearing at his flesh. He'll bare those scars proudly. Even after his so called death.

"Kreacher make food for master. Yes, Master must eat food, for Master is thin to the bone." Kreacher said as he hopped off of the bed.

A though came to Regulus.

"Kreacher, if you could..." He paused as Kreacher turned to him with anticipation.

"Please get me papers of the past sixteen years...I have a lot of catching up to do." Regulus smirked.

He couldn't stay down for long. His mind was willing and raring to get going. To take down the Half-blood that has poisoned the Magical World of Britain. He will restore the Black family name. Now, how to do just that...well, he might as well get started.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Well, i wasn't expecting for this story to get so popular quick. Seriously (no pun intended), 15 followers and five reviews. Not too bad considering i just posted the story just last night. Well, I'll just keep writing the story until i burn out i guess, the ideas just are not leaving my head. But keep in mind people, I'm also working on _**History Before the X-Men, Supernatural She-Wolf, **_and _**Silver Heart. **_I'm also working full time, and i have school too, so it'll be a stressful time for me to keep writing up a pretty darn good plot and a story for people to enjoy. So, yeah, I hope you liked this chapter. I'll be pot raying Regulus a little differently than what other people will think of. Also, if you want a pretty damn good description about Regulus, The books say that he looks like his brother and just as charming. I actually picture him as Howl (from Howl's Moving Castle) with a few differences. I'll be noting these looks in the next chapter. Trust me, people will be looking at him thinking, "He looks familiar…why the hell can't I remember a face like that?" Also, personality wise, given the fact that Sirius is a little more outgoing and temperamental (Let's face it, a lot of the fan fiction compares him to Walburga Black both temperament wise and personality wise) and Regulus is a little more withdrawn. But really, you'll find out what personality I picture Regulus has. I think you'll like it. :) On to the _**Shout Outs:**_

_**LoveSpock: **_Glad you are enjoying the story so far. I hope to have you keep on reading it. :)

_**Rose Desiree Grey: **_Ah yes, As much as I enjoy having Regulus and Sirius get together and have a family moment, unfortunately, that won't be happening in this story. Let's just say both Brothers will have emotions running high and it'll come down to a bit of a smack down. But SHHH! _DON'T TELL ANYONE! _LOL. XD I hope you'll enjoy this story. :)

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the _**Shout Outs! **_So let's go and have me work not he next chapter shall we? Have a great night and enjoy Halloween everyone! :D _**REMEMBER TO LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They equal to more writing and landing to get more published. Have a great night! :D

_**Question Time: **_What do you think Regulus's Personality might be? What is he planning for himself in the next chapter?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>It had been a bout a couple of weeks since Regulus came back from 'the dead'. So to speak. Kreacher was sometimes called back to Grimmauld place (Turned out that the Order of the Phoenix was using that place as Headquarters), but most of the time, he would be coming to the cottage to help him out. Mostly Kreacher would be working on the safe house to make it more 'homey' and a bit bigger. Ah, House-Elf Magic. Where would he be without it?<p>

"Filthy mudblood, blood traitors, and half-bloods in the House of Black. Making Kreacher rid of many things." Kreacher muttered as he was making lunch for Regulus.

Despite Kreacher's bad manners that he picked up from Walburga Black, Regulus heard this and placed down the old paper of December 29th '89, and looked up at his house-elf friend. As of late, Kreacher would be giving him information about the Order of the Phoenix and what they were up to. Anything that they were tossing or throwing away, that would be of use to Regulus, would be brought here in the cottage and placed either the spare room (Again, House elf Magic, he will ever be in awe of it, Kreacher really was a good elf to expand the cottage quite a bit), the library, or his bedroom closet, (Turned out they were getting rid of clothes that were used for ancient rituals for when a wizarding child turned 1 year old, they were to have protections on them for the rest of their lives. Too bad it's not practiced much anymore. But Regulus will keep it.), and any other sort of things that he can look though and get rid of if necessary.

If anything, Regulus would have to agree with blood traitors comment. Turning your back on Pureblood traditions and ways that helped wizarding society progress. When his older brother left the House of Black, he was groomed to take over as the next head and take care of family politics, family magics, and so forth. He had nothing against certain blood traitors, just those who toss away their values and place themselves in danger to break the Statue of Secrecy. There was a reason why muggles always fear the magical world.

"How are things at Grimmauld Place?" Regulus said as Kreacher placed food on the table.

Turned out Kreacher was trying his damnedest to get Regulus back up to peak physical condition as well as making sure he was updated of what Dumbledore's little group was doing. Half of the things they were trying to do made him shake his head. Not only that, with Riddle back, things will take a turn for the worse. He was about to ask Kreatcher for any information about Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, but noticed that he did know quite a bit about the boy. This must be one of the many things that the Woman of Light said that he would know about.

Mostly about the past 5 years things have been going insane, Riddle Possessing a Teacher, A basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets (Regulus knew that it was in the Girl's Bathroom on the Second floor. Shame that he didn't know parseltongue at the time.), His brother breaking out from Azkaban to find the traitorous Peter Pettigrew (Regulus always knew that something was off about that boy when he was in school. He hated the way Peter hung around his brother's friends), and then last year was the Tri-Wizard tournament. And the fact that Riddle was back from limbo so to speak, only made Regulus rub his forehead in irritation.

"Filthy witches and wizards do not deserve to be in the House of Black." Kreacher frowned at his master.

"Oh? What happened this time?" Regulus asked.

"Manipulative Half-blood Dumbledore refuse to take action against dirty scum of Riddle. Refuse to train Boy-Who-Lived." Kreacher said as he walked around the cottage snapping his fingers, making more space for the cottage. If this keeps going, Regulus would have to add a second floor.

"Wait, Dumbledore is refusing to train the boy?" Regulus said arching an eyebrow.

"Yes, Master Regulus's brother, and Half-Blood Prince, along with filthy creature Lupin, vote for training the boy, to help in destroying the Dark Lord. The rest say nay. BAH! Kreacher even knows Boy-who-Lived needs protection and training needed to fight. But what does Kreacher know?" Kreacher said as he perked up an ear and disappeared with a crack.

Regulus could only sigh in irritation.

_"If Dumbledore keeps this up, the boy will die an innocent's death like a lamb to a slaughter._" Regulus thought as growled at Dumbledore's stupidity.

What was the old man playing at? If one good thing happened when Regulus went to school, it was being sorted into Slytherin to escape the manipulation of the old coot. Dumbledore never really paid attention to the Slytherin House during his school years. He left them be and focused more on Gryffindor and the other houses. That was Dumbledore's Mistake.

Regulus rubbed his eyes and sighed. In the past couple of weeks, he was getting back up to speed about the Politics (Fudge of all people is Minister...Damn.), how the economy is doing (not too well due to the fact of impeding war against Riddle), and how the other schools are doing in contrast to Hogwarts. At least Beaubaxtons was out of range of Riddle's reach. Durmstrang was a possibility and he'll keep that in mind. But what worried him was the fact of Harry Potter not being trained to fight Riddle.

_"What is Dumbledore thinking?"_ Regulus felt his face twist into a sneer.

Kreacher told him not too long ago that the Order was talking about some sort of Prophecy, an it dealt with Harry Potter and Riddle. One cannot live while the other survives. He rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Master irritated at half-blood Dumbledore. Prophecy on the mind?" Kreacher said as he cracked back into the room.

"What is he playing at, Kreacher?" Regulus spoke. His voice has been healed up by Kreachers doing. Still at a in-between a tenor and a baratone. Granted, he hadn't seem to have aged that much. If he were to put an age revealing charm on himself, most likely he would be around 24 maybe 25 if he pushed at it. At least he still looked young. He would have to thank the woman of light if he met her again next time.

"From what it looks like, Dumbledore is manipulating things to his gain. He's not going to train the boy from the looks of it. If he values the Boy-Who-Lived so much, why is he not training him to be the most powerful wizard in a century?" Regulus knew that answer was staring at him in the face.

"Manipulative Half Blood of Light enjoys power." Kreacher spoke.

"No doubt about it." Regulus muttered as he ate some of the food that was placed in front of him.

"If Master Regulus so concerned for the Light..." Kreacher was cut off.

"It's not that Kreacher. Children should not be part of a war. Especially children like Harry Potter. Prophecy or no prophecy." Regulus said frowning.

"Kreacher understands. Kreacher understand that Lady Black pushed Master Regulus into dirty half-blood service." Kreacher growled.

"Yes. Kreacher, is that jinx at Hogwarts still there? The one for that there would be a new DADA teacher?" Regulus asked.

"Kreacher has heard Manipulative half-blood speak of it. Position still open, yes. Is Master Regulus wanting it?" Kreacher asked.

"Now that I'm thinking about it? Yes. This is one way I might be able to get into Hogwarts and maybe help Potter. But first I need some potions and a damn good glamour charm. Plus, I may need to stop by at Gringotts. If Steelclaw is still there, I may have a bit of luck on my side." Regulus said as he stood up stretching.

"Master has plan to take care of Boy-Who-Lived?" Kreacher asked.

"Well think about it, Kreacher. No one else seems to be helping out the damn boy. My Brother is an escaped convict, his friend is a werewolf (although that is a horrible excuse), and his relatives are practically abusers. No wonder he lived this far, he's gotten by on sheer luck and survival so far." Regulus said carefully.

"We are leaving in the morning, Kreacher. You may leave for the day. If you could bring back the Locket and many other things from Grimmauld Place. They may be useful when the time comes." Regulus ordered.

"Kreacher lives to serve Master Regulus." Kreacher bowed before popping away with a crack.

Well then, the upcoming months should be interesting.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Well, I can see this is become a good story to read…shame that i'm not getting very many reviews on it. So here we have it, Regulus is thinking about being a Teacher and planning on helping out the boy who lived. But first things first: Going to Diagon Ally. This will be fun to write! :D So I hope you guys are enjoying it so far and i hope you have a great Halloween! May you be blessed with LOTSA CANDY! :D I know i enjoy my fair share! No _**Shout outs **_this time. No reviews to speak back to reviewers who don't talk. Oh well. If you excuse me, I'm off to bed and starting a new month tomorrow. Let's have an Awesome time for _**NaNoWriMo! **_**  
><strong>Please, please, please: _**LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They help me write more and plan things out more! Meaning new chapters! Se eyou next chapter!

_**Question Time: **_What House do you think You would be sorted into? And what Wand would you have?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_

by TimeAndLife21

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><p>Regulus had a hell of a morning getting ready to go to Diagon Ally. He woke up with a headache that pounded and hacked at his skull since he woke up. And the scars that he had gotten on his body from fighting from the inferi, were burning him. He had concluded the fact that his magic was fighting the 'infection' that the inferi inflicted onto him. At least he didn't have to worry too much about turning into an Inferi.<p>

As he took off his night clothes in the enlarged bathroom (Thank Merlin for Kreacher.), he had looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in 2 weeks. Thanks to Kreacher's constant feeding, ('Master must eat! Master mustn't look like death itself!'), he could have sworn that Kreacher said something about looking nice for a pureblood woman but didn't comment on it, he had filled out his thin frame. Along with some rigorous training exercises and running round in the Forbidden Forest in the mornings, toned him out again. Beforehand, he looked like a skeleton. He would have to keep up the regime if he wanted to be on his toes if there was an upcoming war.

The scars that littered his body made him cringe a bit. There were a few scars that ran the length of his torso and back, criss-crossing and jagged. There was many on his legs and his arms. He then grimaced as he reached up with his left wand hand, which had a perfect x shaped scar on the back of it, and felt the scar that slashed across his throat. There was another scar that was on the side of his face the was from his right temple that reached his jawline.

"At least the scar on my face would turn heads." He snickered to himself.

If Sirius saw his body he would be making quips about how woman love men with scars. He scoffed at the thought. His face was aristocratic and, due to the Black Blood in his veins, he has silver eyes. He was proud of his features, and if there was one thing he can boast about to Sirius, if he ever saw him again, was the hair. Sirius had long wavy hair, and when they went to Hogwarts together (even when they were on bad terms) they would try to up one another. Regulus ran his hand through his long, straight, black hair and wrinkled his nose. He would have to get it cut in the near future. A decent cut. Maybe he can get Kreacher to do it for him. He sighed and looked at himself in the mirror again.

He closed his eyes and flashes of being pulled under water went through his mind. He bent over and placed his hands on each side of the sink, holding himself there. He started to shake a bit as he remembered the shrieks of the inferi. He opened his eyes and gave out a shuddery breath and called out for Kreacher to bring out his clothes.

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><p><em>"Gringotts hasn't changed."<em> Regulus thought to himself as he walked through the large golden doors.

He was currently under a light glamour charm that hid his facial scar, his hair was temporarily a light brown color tied back into a ponytail. His eyes were also temporarily changed as well. A muddy brown. He was wearing grey and black robes as he entered the Bank. He walked up to the nearest unoccupied goblin and spoke to it.

"Hello Master Goblin. May your vaults of gold run like the blood of your enemies." He said politely to one of the suited goblins up on a pedestal.

The goblin was unimpressed as he put away his quill and looked down at him.

"May your enemies fall at your feet, Master Wizard. May I help you?" He asked as he looked at Regulus down his pointed nose.

Regulus ignored the condescending tone. If there was one thing he had learned about Goblins, it's to always be polite to them. Some would even work with him if he said the correct words.

"I'm here to see an Advisor. Master Steelclaw, actually. If possible, wouldn't you mind telling him that Rex Whitesone is here?" Regulus asked with a light smile.

The goblin raised a brow before clearing his throat.

"Very well." He spoke as he walked off of the pedestal and stood in front of him.

"This way, Mr. Whitestone." The goblin beckoned.

Regulus followed the goblin past many desks, and older goblins woking on certain papers. Not long after following the Goblin into a less populated hall, he stopped in front of a large door. He knocked on it before entering.

"A Mr. Whitestone is here to see you, Master Steelclaw." The Goblin said imperiously.

"Is that so? Bring him in." A gruff voice ordered from inside.

Regulus walked inside and saw the old goblin that had handled the Black Family Fortune since his Great Great Grandfather's time.

"You may leave, Kitchdur." The old goblin said as he flicked his hand at the air.

The goblin bowed and left as quick as he came and the door slammed shut. The silence permeated the room. The old goblin stared at 'Rex Whitestone' and sniffed at the air haughtily at him.

"If you were truly, 'Rex Whitestone', tell me, what animal would his paladin take after?" The goblin glared at him.

Regulus smirked at Steelclaw. The goblin was old, there was no doubt about it. The little hair he had on his head was white as snow and his teeth was yellowed a bit as well as the wrinkles that was prominent on his face. But age had nothing to due with the fact that the Goblin was on edge. Even in his old age, Steelclaw would fight tooth and nail to protect assets for Gringotts. Steelclaw's beady black eyes was glaring into his glamoured eyes and he smiled slyly.

"The Lion, of course." Regulus replied.

"Oh? Then how about this? WHY is Mr. Whitestone's Paladin a lion?" He asked cautiously.

Regulus bowed in respect and spoke.

"Because his name bears the heart of the Leo Constellation. Regulus." He chuckled.

Steelclaw grinned showing his sharp pointed teeth and flicked his hand in the air, placing silencing charms over the entire room to keep from eavesdroppers.

"Mr. Black. I must say, you look good for a man who is supposedly dead for the past sixteen years." Steelclaw grinned wickedly.

"Even I'm still in shock about that fact, Master Steelclaw. Now, I have come to take my place as temporary Head of the Black Family." Regulus spoke with a smirk as he took off the glamour charms.

Steelclaw raised an eyebrow at regulus and leaned forward.

"Temporary Head, Mr. Black?" Steelclaw asked.

"Well obviously, no one needs to know that I'm taking over the Black Fortune and Vaults. Besides, with my brother on the run, and me supposedly dead, the Black Vaults have been frozen, correct?" Regulus said as he sat down on a chair.

Steelclaw nodded.

"Yes, Given the fact that your Brother was incarcerated, we opened his will and when his Godson, Harry James Potter," He paused as he snapped his finger and a couple of papers went flying into his hands from the depths of the room. "And when the boy reaches of age, He would inherit the Black Family Fortune." Steelclaw said diplomatically.

"Of course Sirius would do that." Regulus huffed.

"But now that you are here and alive, the Will of Sirius Orion Black was put on hold as he was thrown into Azkaban. With you seemingly not dead, you may assume Temporary Head, until his charges are cleared or when Mr. Potter reaches 17." Steelclaw said as he looked at the papers.

"That would be fine. I have lots to do to fix a few things up in the Vaults. If you may escort me, Master Steelclaw?" Regulus asked.

Steelclaw smirked.

"Very Well, Mr. Black. Place back on your glamour charms. We go to vaults 1025 through 1075." Steelclaw smiled wickedly.

"Perfect." Regulus smiled.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Ah, the Goblins are had to characterize. Any tips and suggestion would be nice! :D So, it's the first of November and I probably won't update this story until Tuesday. Why? I have stuff to do beforehand. So you guys only get one chapter from me tonight. :P Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, i know i did while I was writing it. If you have any questions at all, you can ask and I'll answer to the best of my ability. The next chapter will continue at Gringotts and Regulus runs into someone that may be of use to him. Now, to the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**PJoHoOFan: **_I was always a bit upset by the fact that Regulus didn't have much to work with in the books and hardly at all showed up in the movies. If there is one thing i have learned about books with Background characters that have little to no substance on them, you can take what is there and enhance it. I would LOVE to hear you the theories of where this fic will go. I hope you keep on reading my stories! :D

_**ladyedgecome: **_There are good stories about Regulus, but you really have to find them to enjoy them. I'm glad you are enjoying this story thus far! :D

_**jules:** _I have read fanfics about Regulus being intelligent. This is true, in this story Regulus will be a bit more on the brighter side than most. The explanation will come up in the next chapter! I hope you keep reading my stories!

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the _**shout-outs**_, But i do have a couple words to say to a few people. _**I only do Hetrosexual parings. **_I have had people ask me to write slash fiction and i point blank refuse to do so. If you want to write your own slash fiction that just fine with me, but please don't imply that I should expand my horizons and read and write slash fiction. I don't like Homosexual pairings at all. Period. That's not what i believe in. You can call me what ever you like, but i hope you will respect my opinions, just as i respect yours. _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_ More reviews equals more writing and more planning! See you in the next chapter!

_**Question Time: **_If you have only one subject of magic to master in, what would it be? (I.e: Potions, Transfiguration, ect.)

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Black As The Blood in Our Names**  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>At Vault 1066, was a vault that Regulus knew his father favored. He remembered when he was 16, just two weeks before he took the dark mark, (Thankfully the Mark wasn't on his arm anymore...A clean slate is easier to work with than a slate of a Death Eater), his father took him to vault 1066 for certain items. And it would be those certain items that would help him gain Headship over family, financial, and some political affairs, however temporary they are.<p>

Of course, he won't be showing up in public anytime soon as Regulus Black. That would be suicidal. He had blatantly, and secretly, betrayed Riddle. If rumors were right in that circle, he was killed off by a low death eater or by an Auror. At least the lie is better than the truth. At least for now. As Steelclaw and Regulus walked up to the entrance of Vault 1066, Regulus observed the grand door. It was a massive thing. Hard oak wood and iron. On both sides of the door were stone gargoyle ravens with emerald eyes. Their wings spread out as if they were to take off in flight. Given the fact that the Black Family coat of arms had three ravens on it, the third raven was just inside the door. But first...

"Here is your Family Dagger. I know you would need it." Steelclaw said as he presented a black dagger with a silver and blue hilt.

It looked more decorative than useful, but it's uses are exceptional to a time such as this. He took the dagger and walked up to the heavy door, which at a closer glance, has small black pearls embedded into the wood. the largest pearl was a white pearl and the size of his head. It was in the middle of the door and glowing ever so slightly. He chuckled and placed the blade onto his left hand, and made a clean, and painful, slice.

"I, Regulus Arcturus Black, belonging to The Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, the house of my Forefathers, shed blood to open my birthright as the sons of Black. I command you, OPEN!" He commanded forcefully as he placed his bloody hand onto the pure white of the pearl.

He could feel the pull on his blood and after a minute of putting his hand on the pearl, he backed up. The bloodied handprint started to twist and turn on the pearl and it had morphed into a celtic tribal image of a raven in flight. Then it slowly morphed into a tribal image of a lion roaring. The blood then was soaked into the white pearl, slowly turning from white to red to black matching the small black pearls in the door. The door opened inwards with loud groaning and creaking.

"I shall wait out here, Mr. Black. Take as long as you need to do what you can and get what you want." Steelclaw told him.

Regulus nodded thankfully at the goblin and walked inside. When Regulus stepped inside the door torches lit up and in front of him was the third stone gargoyle raven. Instead of taking flight like it's brothers, it stood proudly looking down at him with not Emerald eyes, but Rubies as red as blood. Then the stone raven, from years of disuse, moved and then, as dust and debris fall from it's position also took the position of flight. After it did so, two doors appeared on either side of it.

Knowing what he needed to do first, he opened up the right door and walked inside. It was as if someone turned on a light and it was everywhere. Regulus adjusted his eyesight and couldn't help but stare in wonder. This particular vault held many items. Dark and Light. But he only needed to go to the end of the room. He briskly walked through the room, giving passing glances to particular items. Some swords, special armor, large chests and closets, and potions ingredients, but he paid them no mind.

As he walked deeper and deeper into the vault, he came across the end of the long room. He stopped just short of 20 feet away. in that twenty feet radius was nothing between him and the items that stand against the wall, except a giant picture of the coat of arms with old ancient writings that surrounded it. The items that stood against the wall was a rather large bowl on top of a pedestal and a Mirror. He crossed the coat of arms on the floor, stopped in front of the pedestal, and looked into the mirror. It was an old mirror, but very large. It was oval shaped and it was a very tall one. He saw his full body reflection and the bowl and pedestal in it. Taking the dagger and his already sliced hand, he slit it again and placed the blood into the bowl.

"I summon the spirit of Polaris Black, the Most Ancient and Most Noble of the House of Black, to confirm my position of my family power. To me, Polaris! To Me!" Regulus spoke strongly.

The blood in his hand now flowed much more freely into the bowl, filling it to the brim. He awaited to see the spirit of the House of Black. It didn't take long for the spirit in the mirror to appear before Regulus. Regulus had only heard of Polaris Black as the first of the Blacks to have started the Ancient and Noble Houses. When Magics in family were beginning to be cherished. Polaris was a tall man with long black hair tied into a high Ponytail, his facial features were aristocratic and angular. He sported a thin beard and mustache on his face and wore ancient robes of blue and green. He wore a rather large pendant that hung from his neck to the center of his chest. The Pendent was silver with a large Emerald inside it. The man also has the trademark Black family eyes. Silver.

_"My, My, what have we here? I haven't seen a Descendent of mine visit for quite some time. The last Descendent of my line that last visited was back in 1721. Hydrus Black. Who are you?"_ His deep voice spoke.

Out of respect, Regulus bowed at the waist.

"Polaris Black, I am Regulus Arcturus black. I have come to claim temporary headship over the House of Black as my elder brother, Sirius Orion is currently unfit for ruling the House." Regulus spoke regally.

The ghost that was in the mirror tilted his head as if contemplating the words his descendent had spoken.

_"Is there such a reason why the eldest son cannot take over?"_ Polaris asked.

"I'm afraid so. There is a war brewing in the outside world, with my Brother occupied, The duties of the House of Black fall to me, if only temporary unless my brother falls." Regulus answered.

_"Does your brother have any heirs?"_ He asked.

"No. And neither do I." Regulus spoke calmly.

_"I see. This war..."_ The ghost in the mirror trailed off before his head snapped back to him.

_"You should be dead, Regulus."_ Polaris said cautiously.

"How do you know that?" Regulus asked.

_"Not many people are brought back from the dead. Especially not from My family."_ Polaris said with a faint smirk .

"Sorry to disappoint, but with this second chance, I'm not going to stand by and let the world get taken over by some half-blooded bastard hell-bent of exterminating halfbloods, squibs, muggleborns and muggles. If you pardon my french here." Regulus spoke bitterly.

The man in the Mirror looked thoroughly shocked.

_"Extermination of Muggleborns, Squibs, and muggles? He must want the destruction of the wizarding world. If it were not for muggle borns, the Wizarding world along with the pure bloods and half-bloods would have died out. If squibs were executed the lines would die out with them. If their children were to be magical the line is still pure. When Hydrus came to me for advice for preserving the Black Family line at that particular time, I only told him to marry those who are pure."_ Polaris spoke as he frowned.

"_Tourjours Pur_. That is our motto." Regulus spoke.

Regulus noted the sad look on his ancestors face.

"_The original motto is 'Toujours pure dans notre âme'. Always Pure in our Souls. He must've changed it without my knowing."_ Polaris spoke sadly.

Regulus would be talking more with his anscetor and ask questions, but he knew that time is short. If he wanted to help Harry Potter with Riddle soon, he would have to do it now.

"Father Black, I promise that I will answers your questions. I will also promise to come down whenever I need advice. You are the Magic of the House of Black, and I hope that though your permission, I will perform the duties as temporary head of house with pride and dignity, that the other heads have lacked." Regulus spoke eloquently.

Polaris smiled at the young Descendant.

_"You already have my permission. As the head of the Family Magic of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black! I bestow upon you the Pure Magic of the Black family. So mote it be."_ Polaris recited.

Regulus stumbled back as he found himself standing in the middle of the coat of arms. Strings of glowing blue, green, silver, and black surrounded him. He looked back into the mirror of Polaris, but he was gone. Small little lights surrounded him and he could feel centuries of Family Magic flowing through him. The magic was PURE! He could feel light, he could feel no pain, he could do no wrong. As soon as the magic flowed through him, his eyes glowed an unearthly silver and he swore he saw constellations and the great stars bow to him. All too soon, the magic stopped flowing and he fell to his knees.

He panted at the rush he had. He always knew that being born into the Black family and being named after a constellation or a star would have its drawbacks, but it has a great advantage. He was going to look in the other room for that book. The book that will possibly help him win the war. Bringing down Riddle once and for all.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Ugh…Daylight saving time is upon us! I don't have much to say about this chapter other than the fact that thought it was awesome. I hope you enjoyed it too! :D I was a little late of putting this up due to a black out in my house, so I as a bit distraught when that happened. But now we are here and things will get rolling. What Book does Regulus need? And How is it going to help Harry out with fighting old Voldemort? You'll just have to wait and see! _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Balin of Moria: **_I like Regulus too. I hope you like my portrayal of him. He will be shifting gears in the near future though. :)

_**Tina: **_I will be doing flashbacks, but they will not be happening soon. But they will play a part in it though. :)

_**PJoHoOFan: **_Unfortunately, the Battle at the Ministry won't be happening anytime soon. Have to go through a bit of Hogwarts schooling to get to that part. XD But I'm going to enjoy incorporation Regulus in it. It's going to be KICK ASS!

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the _**shout outs! **_So I hope you guys enjoyed the read for I won't be putting up an new chapter until tuesday at least. I have another fan fiction to work on! XD ave a great night! _**REMEMBER TO LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They help out writers and it helps me out to keep on writing! See ya in the next chapter! :D

_**Question Time!: **_If Regulus was Alive during the book series, what difference do you think it would have made in the Harry Potter world? Also, Who is your favorite Character(s) in the books?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Black As The Blood in Our Name**_  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>Sirius Black awoke in the dark living room. He just sat there wondering why he wasn't sleeping at this moment. It was only freaking 9 o' clock in the morning. He would usually sleep until the afternoon at the latest. He sighed as he slowly got up, yawning as he did so. He didn't want to go upstairs to sleep in his old room. Too many harsh memories came to the forefront of his mind when he got up there.<p>

Although he can't seem to figure out why he was awake. He grunted as he stood up and scratched his chest before heading to the bathroom. He passed the family tapestry before stopping in place and noticed something...the tapestry was GLOWING. It was a faint blue glow, but he caught it. And while half asleep too. Now, Sirius wasn't stupid or an idiot, he knows how magic works.

When he came into the Auror Corps and worked under Moody with James, he had to learn about more than just hexing first and ask questions later (shame that it never applied to him at the time when Peter betrayed them), and learned strategy and manipulation for interrogations. Contrary to belief, he was pretty damn smart...he just didn't want to show it off.

The Family Tree Tapastery was still glowing and Sirius scoffed.

"Kreacher!" He barked.

A crack signified the arrival of the little house-elf, and Sirius couldn't help but sneer at the pathetic creature. He never liked Kreacher. At all. He was just a sad excuse for a house elf. Still in mourning over his insane mother and his dead brother.

"Blood traitor Black call for Kreacher?" The house elf sneered back at Sirius.

Sirius overcame the insane need to punt the little bastard into a wall. Granted, the house elf has been more quiet as of late. Sirius couldn't help but be a bit paranoid if Kreacher decided to poison one of them one of these days. Unfortunately, Harry's friend Hermione wanted him to be a little nicer to Kreacher…there are no promises.

"Why is the Tapestry glowing like this?" He ordered an answer.

Kreacher frowned before turning to the tapestry in question, only to tilt his head in curiosity. He shuffled back and forth before tilting his head yet again at the glow that surrounds it.

"Seems like old magic, yes." Kreacher snorted.

"Protection magic, mayhaps. Kreacher believes it to be Black family magic recasting ward on Ancient House." Kreached said as he frowned at Sirius.

That was the only answear he was going to get from the little mongrel.

"You are dismissed." Sirius snarled, obviously not happy with the answer.

"Kreacher always getting yelled at by blood traitor. If only Master Regulus were here. Yes, Master Regulus would be better Head of the House of Black, than Blood Traitor." Kreacher muttered.

"Crazy little..." Sirius started to growl before Kreacher disappeared with a loud crack.

He sighed and he let his anger go and looked at the tapestry again. His eyes landed onto the skull that has his brother's name under it. He could feel the aching resentment and pain the came along with looking at that skull. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. The last time he had seen him was not long after he graduated from Hogwarts. At the time, he had no intentions of leaving on the Hogwarts express to go to his 'Home.' He had seen Regulus on the platform leaning against a pole with a hardened stare on his face. He didn't know what possessed him at the time to walk over to his brother, but he did.

When he had gotten closer, it was like those two were the only people on the platform. He could remember the slick hair that fell into the silver eyes of his brother. He was just a few feet away when Regulus stood up straight and tall. Despite being the older brother, he and Regulus had always been at the same height, same body types, same color hair, ect. They could have been mistaken for twins if it wasn't for the different facial structures. They were Blacks. Looking good was one of their best traits.

_"So, decided to come over and give your 'little' brother a good bye lecture?" Regulus said bitingly._

_Sirius mentally flinched at the tone of his younger brother._

_"What? Mother and Father don't want me back? Not going to ask me to come home?" Sirius replied back._

_"Tch, who would want someone who abandoned their family to come home?" Regulus stared back at him._

_He looked like he hadn't slept in days. The bags under his eyes were prominent and glaring on his pale skin._

_Sirius felt anger rise up in his body._

_"Abandon? If anything, It was you and father who abandoned me. I don't consider 'Mother' anything, the crazy bitch." Sirius growled._

_"We abandoned you? That's rich. Who was the one that ran away two summers ago? Who was the one left me behind? That's right, YOU!" Regulus barked back._

_"Geez, nice to know I'm feeling so loved." Sirius said sarcastically._

_Regulus laughed bitterly, a slightly mad glint in his eyes came out._

_"Loved? Sure, loved enough that you got blasted off of the tapestry." Regulus smirked._

_"Good! I wouldn't want to be associated with a damn purist family. Times are changing Regulus. Maybe you should give it a shot." Sirius sneered._

_"You don't know what you are saying Sirius." Regulus said darkly as he walked up to his brothers form._

_"All I have to say is this: Watch yourself if you want to live. We wouldn't want the Main Black line to die out now." Regulus hissed under his breath just loud enough for Sirius to hear._

_Regulus turned and walked away from him and never looked back. Sirius couldn't even muster up the anger to hex his brother._

He had regretted egging his brother on that day. He stepped back from the tapestry and closed his eyes. Deep inside, he knew he abandoned his brother. He should have brought Regulus with him when he ran away to the Potters. But he was a stupid kid at the time. Too angry at his parents for siding with Voldemort and killing muggleborns and blood traitors alike. Yet...he couldn't find it in himself to be angry at his little brother.

_"Siri...I don't care what house you'll be in. Just as long as we are still brothers...right?"_

_"Yeah. Even if we are in different houses."_

He breathed in deeply as his eyes throbbed a little. Turning away from the tapestry, he went back to the living room and laid back down onto the soft lumpy couch. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he forgot about the glowing tapestry. Letting out shaky breaths as he tried not to let he tears fall out. Regret settled into his heart, knowing that he couldn't bring his dead brother back to life. Even if he could, he doubted he could ask for forgiveness for abandoning his brother.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21:<strong>_ Okay! Here's a new chapter! Featuring Sirius! It's time to incorporate the other characters into the story! Next chapter will feature Regulus in Greece. Why is he in Greece? What is the purpose? Well you'll find out soon! Also, 53 follows and 29 reviews….what the hell do you guys like this story anyways? I don't even know it it's all good or not. XD :D I've also been working a bit on _**Silver Heart **_and _**HBTXM **_mostly because i want to get those finished up…well getting them started up again. It's not easy when you have taken a break from writing and trying to keep writing when you have real life stuff to do. Especially when you have to vote. REMEMBER TO VOTE PEOPLE! CHOOSE WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS RIGHT IN AMERICA! Anyways, let's got to some _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**cruisechick: **_I'm glad that you are enjoying the story thus far! There are some stories that get people hooked just by the first chapter alone, and there are some stories that just make you want to face palm. I hope to keep hearing from you! :D

_**kazetoame: **_I'm glad that you are liking the story! Sorry for the short chapters, it's is what i have intended to do with this story. It works pretty well with my tight fitting schedule. I'm glad to know that Regulus fits a bit with the canon. I noticed that there is not much to work with Regulus, so i figured that with him coming back to life with the choices that he had made in the past, he would want to change a bit. Although his personality is a bit shaky right now, I think that he will solidify out soon. :)

_**PJoHoOFan: **_Oh yes, it will be magnificent when he gets revealed, but that won't be anytime soon. XD If you want to get technical, Regulus as a teacher he would be a bit hardened and a bit ruthless. Think about it, he was in a war on the Dark side. He's bound to be a little unstable. Hey a good teacher who has experience is better than a teacher with no experience (If Regulus ever met Lockheart, Regulus would win in a heartbeat. Just saying.) As for the minor characters, they will be making appearances. Don't worry. They will pop up. :)

_**TAL21: **_Okay, that's it for _**shout outs! **_Again, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, things are going to be shaken up soon! _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS PLEASE! **_They help with ideas and creative writing and sooner chapters! See you guys on thursday! :D HAve an awesome night!

_**Question Time: **_When it comes to reading awesome fan fictions in _**Harry Potter, **_what do you look for? What genre, length, or characters do you like reading into? And why do you like to read them?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>The hot Mediterranean Sun was bearing down on Regulus. After making an illegal portkey to Greece, he was starting to regret dressing too formal to come to Greece. Luckily, his Transfiguration skills are above average. He transfigured his heavy clothing into a simple t-shirt, leather jacket, blue jeans and tennis shoes with the black wand. He had yet to figure out what kind of wand it was but didn't care too much about it. He would have to get a second wand in the near future though. After placing the wand onto his transfigured holster that was hidden on his arm disillusioned to muggles around him, he walked down the streets of the town he had landed in.<p>

With him, he had brought with himself the Black Family Magic Tome. As thick and as big as it was, he had to shrink it to make it fit into his pocket. Just a couple of days ago, he had filled out an application for the Defense against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts after he had gained status as Head of the House of Black. Even though it will be temporary, the House needs to get organized. But the job of Defense against the Dark Arts was something that he needed to get to train the next generation how to defend themselves in war. Regulus had no doubt that Riddle will be wanting a blown out war. Then after sending off the application to the Ministry, he went back down into the vaults to get the Black Family Tome.

It was interesting to say the least, that when he picked up that tome, it spoke of a 'Family' Secret Keeper. Now this was something that Regulus had never heard of. He had heard of Secret Keepers for the Fidelius Charm, but a Family Secret keeper? He wasn't sure how to make of that. He would have to go to this 'Family' in Greece if he wanted to find out what it meant. He knew that he wouldn't find the family secret keepers in the town, which meant that he had to go onto the outskirts. He managed to go to the cliffs that were near the sea and he could feel the magic buzzing around in this area. He came across a path that he knows that is protected so that muggles would pass over it, but for witches and wizards, it's clear as day.

He followed the path and headed upwards. He could see the flora and fauna that lined the path, filled with hues of blues, greens, and reds. Regulus didn't know how long he was on the path until he came across a rather large home. He stepped out of the shadows of the forest and looked upwards. The home was fairly large. Three stories and the architecture was impressive. He walked up to the pristine white doors and saw a knocker shaped in a form of a Raven. He lifted it and knocked on the door loudly. He heard a faint pop and the door opened to reveal a house elf. It's eyes widened and the house elf went into a tizzy.

"OH! Mistress will be pleased that a Black has finally come! Please! Come in and follow Cheza!" The house elf said excitedly as she opened the door wider, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside.

"Mistress will be elated to see that a descendent of the great Polaris Black is here!" The house elf squeaked as she dragging him through the pristine white hall.

Everywhere was white, unless there were portraits the line some of the halls and gave it a bit of color, other than that, everything was white with a dash of accented colors of flowers or paintings. The house elf slowed down as Regulus was about to retrieve his hand back from the boney thing, when they came to a glass door. The house elf opened it up and stepped aside.

"Mistress will be seeing you, yes?" The big eyed house elf spoke.

Regulus could only stare out the glass door. Someone was already expecting him? He straightened up and was on edge. He didn't want to be caught off guard for anything. He walked through the doors and it would seem that he had stepped into a rather large sunroom. Turning to his right he saw a silhouette of a woman drinking her tea behind a thin curtian. He was silent for a few moments before he heard an old voice.

"Come now, young Black. I have been awaiting your presence." The voice spoke softly.

It was an old voice, worn over many years, yet still has the strength to speak. Regulus opened the thin white curtain and saw the elderly woman . She was a thin, fragile, thing, wearing a light blue sundress and her silver hair up in a loose bun. Her face was wrinkled with lines and sharp with age but her eyes...she was blind. The milky hues of blue stared emptily at him. But if he looked deep enough, he could see a light in them.

"Please, take your seat young Black. I was wondering when you might arrive." She spoke giving a gentle smile.

He politely walked to the chair and took a seat. There was already a cup of steaming tea in front of him.

"How did you know that it was me?" Regulus asked as he took the cup of tea gently and sipped a little of it. It was a mix of ginger and orange. It was a plesent taste.

"The wards, of course. They recognize the blood of the Blacks. The Grey Family has always had good ties with the Blacks. Polaris and Iason were good friends many centuries back." The woman spoke.

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Amphitrite Grey. Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Grey. I presume that you come here for the secrets of the Black Family?" She asked smiling.

"I am. But I have a few questions. What is a Family Secret Keeper?" Regulus asked.

"Oh. You don't know?" Amphitrite asked as she tilted her head curiously.

"Know what?" Regulus said frowning slightly.

"Ah, you don't know. Hmm, I expected that your father or at least your grandfather to tell you about the Secrets of the Black family being kept with the Grey Family." She said as she placed down her tea cup gently.

"I'm afraid after my father never told me about our family secrets being kept in another family. How does it work?" Regulus asked.

Amphitrite smiled at him. Even with her blindness he feels like he was being examined.

"I'm sure you've heard of the Fidelius charm correct? This type of magic has been around long before the ministry was created. In a time where there would be close family friends that would protect each other. Each other families, each others burdens, each other secrets." she paused for a moment.

"The Blacks, Greys, and Whites. Sadly, the last White heir died of dragonpox not too long ago. Infertile, poor thing. No children to speak of. The Greys on the other hand, sadly, had been squibs since the late 18th century...at least until now." She said smiling.

"Family Secret keepers was to keep secrets of the family that confided in them. Your Great Grandfather, Arcturus, confided all new family secrets on top of the old family secrets to my husband and myself when I was just 35 years old. Newly married to my Husband Agrippas." She said as she paused to take a sip of her tea.

"After my husband died 25 years ago, I was the sole Secret Keeper. My son wanted nothing to do with a family that couldn't do magic and left when he was just 21 year old. When I found out the my granddaughter Zoe was the first Grey in 3 centuries to finally perform magic." Amphitrite said softly.

"In other words, you know the secrets of the entire Black Family. Political, Magical, Familial and the like..." Regulus did not like that. He really did not like that at all. What happens in the family stays in the family.

Amphitrite chuckled at the fact that Regulus was clearly uncomfortable with the fact that everything in the Black family was with her. But he didn't have to worry too much about it.

"Do not worry so much, Young Black, the secrets are not with me anymore. But rather with my Granddaughter Zoe. If you wish to know things about your family or rather the spells and charms and many other things that were created, Zoe will help you and only you, as you hold the title of Head of House. Unfortunately, she has been in Rome these past three weeks with hit wizards Hunting down a dark creature. Although. She might be back soon." She spoke.

Regulus heaved a sigh of relief. It would seem that the secrets would be passed down from on generation to the other. but from the looks of it, Amphitrite didn't tell her son, but rather her Granddaughter. Who apparently is the first witch in her family since the 1600s. At least he wouldn't have to kill anyone while he is here.

"Young Black, You need not worry. I know the burden you carry and the second chance at life that you have is not one to take lightly. I can only hope that we may assist you as much as we can." Amphitrite smiled at him.

Regulus smiled back and wondered when this 'Zoe' will be coming. If she hold all the secrets of the House of Black, he would need her help. Whatever the cost.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Well there you have it! So Regulus will be having a bit of help! This chapter as a bit fun to write due to family magic being part of it. More speculation on how it works in in the next chapter. So…71 follows and 36 reviews. Not to bad considering how i have been writing. But I feel grateful nether then less. I just wish that you guys would give me more reviews. Which reminds me…_**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, AND OPINIONS! **_They help me write more and post more. Otherwise you might have to wait a while for me to write a new chapter. The will be No _**shout outs **_today due to lack of letters. Oh well. I'll see you guys on new years! :D

_**Question Time! **_What do you think of the story so far? Is it good, is it bad, Is it decent? What do you think might happen in soon to come chapters?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**Black As The Blood in Our Names**_  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>It had turned out that Regulus had many questions for Amphitrite. How did the Blacks not know of the Greys, save for the Head of the Family? Why is it only the Grey family that knows of the Black Family Secrets, and not another family that was close to them? And one of the question that niggled in his mind was: If the Greys were such a prominent wizarding family, how was it that their line has been squib after squib? Amphitrite took these questions in stride.<p>

"In this world of turmoil, especially where you are at young Black, you need all the secrets hidden as much as possible. If certain secrets escape to the wrong ears, it would mean the downfall of your family. The Head of your Family, Many years ago it was Arcturus Black who came and spoke of some sort of an uprising. He was a bit paranoid at the time and he spoke to myself and my husband of everything that the Black family had done. And that was the Last of the Black Heads that came to us." She had spoken.

"If your father, Orion had chosen another family to have as the Family Secret Keeper, we would have known the moment he had decided to break it. I have waited many years for him to come and take back the secrets that was placed on us, but it never happened. When I tried to pass the secrets to my son for him to keep, he refused and left our family claiming that we would never produce a magical child. He married an American squib and well, when my first Granddaughter Zoe was born, she showed a significant amount of it was my Grandson, Atlas who also showed promise in magic. I don't know how the 'squib' curse ended, but I'm proud of my grandchildren." She said with pride in her voice.

Regulus couldn't help but smile sadly. If only his family had been so accepting. He knew he had a few squibs in his family along with some so-called 'blood traitors'. The Grey Family is just what they are. Grey. Neither Dark or Light. He was suddenly reminded of a royal family being protected by guards or knights. The Greys were the knights for the Blacks. That was an interesting analogy to say the least.

"So would you tell me all the secrets that has accumulated over the years?" Regukus asked.

Amphitrite shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. I have transferred all the Black Family Secrets to Zoe. Only she will be able to magically transfer everything to you. Tricky process magic. It can give and take away and it can create and destroy." She spoke as she grabbed her cane that was leaning on the side of the table.

Just as she did that, Cheza the house elf came rushing in.

"Mistress! Mistress Zoe is back, yes!" The hyperactive house-elf spoke as she ran up toe the older woman.

"Ah, she must've finally finished her job." She turned to Regulus.

"Come, if you want help to finish off an enemy, I'm sure Zoe wouldn't mind helping out." She said as she held out a hand.

Regulus with years of manners held the hand of the older woman and both followed Cheza out of the glass room.

"Mistress Zoe in flower garden, yes. Cheza believes mistress Zoe in good mood! Oh, perhaps mistress Zoe has gift for Cheza! Cheza wonders..." The little house elf babbled on.

Regulus chuckled. If Cheza was around Kreacher, he would pull his ears in annoyance.

"Now I must warn you, My granddaughter has a tendency of blending into her surroundings. So don't be too surprised if she appears out of nowhere." Amphitrite smiled.

"Oh?" Regulus asked.

Before the elderly woman could reply, Regulus and Amphitrite went into a garden room. There was green everywhere and many colors of different flowers were in bloom.

"This might be the only place here that is not blindingly white." He said before he could stop himself.

Amphitrite chuckled as Regulus blushed as he forgot his manners.

"I suppose so. Although this wasn't my choice. I do believe it was my great Grandfather who wanted the house white for a reason." She tittered.

They had stopped in front of a rather large pomegranate tree, and Regulus was impressed by the size of it.

"Ah, if you would excuse me dear, I wouldn't mind sitting down." Amphitrite said as she tapped her cane on the ground to the bench underneath the tree.

Regulus was about to ask a little more about the Grey family when something caught his eyes. He looked up and spotted a white bird. It was rather large for a bird. Looked similar to a raven...but it was bigger than a raven. It looked very intelligent as it's beady violet eyes stared at him, wait...the eyes are violet? The white bird cawed and hopped off the highest branch of the tree and glided down past him before turning around and hopping onto the ground. It hopped toward Amphritrite and in mid hop in front of his eyes the bird was transforming back into a human walking towards her.

"Hello Grandmother." A young voice spoke from the young woman as she took a spot next to Amphitrite.

Regulus was in shock. The white raven was an animagus. The young woman was also white as a ghost. Whiter than snow. At least her skin and hair is. She was wearing black professional clothing and a light black trench coat. Regulus has never seen a person with such freakish white skin and hair before.

_"Is she a veela of some sort?"_ He thought as he walked a bit closer.

"Zoe, this is our guest. Regulus Black. He is the Head of the House of Black." Amphritrite nodded her head in Regulus's direction.

The young woman turned her head towards Regulus and he had a pretty good look at her. Despite her skin and hair being so white, she was actually very pleasing to the eye. her bright violet eyes held a spark of determination and fire. Her face was heart shaped and she was slightly on the thin side. Her hair had bangs in them and was let loose in a slight wave down her shoulder blades.

"You're Regulus Black." She said as she stood up and bowed a little.

"Yes. I am." He said smiling at her.

He noticed that she flushed a little. Red patches showed up on her cheeks.

"Huh. So you are alive. That's a bit rare." She said as she turned to Amphitrite.

"Yes. It is. Magic can do many things. If it so chooses it can bring the dead back to life or change time. Magic is a fickle thing." Amphitrite said smiling a little.

"Apparently." Zoe smiled and nodded.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. What brings you here?" She asked.

"I come with this book." Regulus spoke as he took out the Black Family Tome that he had shrunk and placed in his leather jacket.

He took out the black wand and enlarged the tome to 5 times it's size. He noticed Zoe's violet eyes widened with surprise and respect.

"Wow...You want me to keep more family secrets then?" She asked as she looked up at him.

He barely noticed that she was just a few inches below his height.

"Actually," He spoke laying on a bit of charm, "I need the secrets from you."

This statement made Zoe stand up straighter and look directly into his eyes.

"Ah," A light wicked smile stretched across her face "you want some secrets. All right. Hit me." She smiled.

Regulus nodded as he opened up the tome and used some wandless magic to flip through pages and stopped at a section of the tome that was about 50 pages long. But it was all blank.

"Spells, Hexes, Jinxes, charms, the whole lot. Dark and Light. Is there any of those that my family would hide?" He asked as he handed the tome over to her.

She held the tome and flipped though pages. Her violet eyes glowing slightly.

"Well obviously yes. There are many spells that Ministries, mostly in the UK and some parts of Asia, would cringe at. Although, most of the spells that are hidden away are more blood and Family magics. There are some spell here for necromancy." She said as she looked back up at him.

Regulus can feel the blood drain from his face as he could remember long bony hands dragging him down below. He could feel their claws digging into his flesh leaving the scar on his body. He quickly shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Let's just skip the necromancy. Is there any battle spells?" He asked, nervously chuckling.

She flipped through some more pages and stopped on a blank one. He had a feeling that with this woman she knew all the secrets of his family. So she can see the pages as if there already are words on the paper in the tome.

"Yup. Plenty of them too, along with defensive and offensive potions in here too. Whoa! Now that's what I call a spell." She smiled as she looked up at him.

"So, if I may ask...are you just here for just the spells and such?" Zoe asked.

Regulus was about to say something but Amphitrite spoke up as she walked over with her cane.

"Let us speak of the exchange after dinner. I assume you are hungry? Especially you, Zoe. YOu just returned from hunting down a dark creature. Jorgon D'jorenn wasn't he? " The older some said as she gracefully stood by her granddaughters side.

As if on cue, Regulus and Zoe's stomach growled. Nervously chuckling, Zoe spoke up.

"Sure. And I would love to know why you are here if it's just for the spells or something more." Zoe asked.

"I'll explain after dinner, if the Head of the House of Grey may allow it." Regulus smiled at her.

Amphitrite smiled. Blind as she was, she could see that Zoe and Regulus will be helping each other in the very near future.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Okay here's the next chapter. And this is what i have to say to you guys…HOLY FREAKING CRAP! 1.41K views on this story on **This day alone!? ** Seriously people, i really want to know WHY you guys like this story. But hey, if you like it, you like it. I'm just glad people enjoy it. :) So we finally get to Zoe who will be a bit of a sidekick in a way…Okay that's insulting to her. What I'm saying is that she will defiantly be useful in future chapters. The next chapter won't talk much about the exchanging of secrets but more about The Grey Family in detail and why Zoe is as white as snow. I'll give you a hint: An extreme form of Albinoism magically enhanced. There's a reason for it though. I like Amphitrite. She's one of my favorite character. A blind old lady who has a tendency to know things a little more than she should. Magic is fun to mess with huh? Now on with the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**TheHuntress: **_There is a reason why i'm doing shorter chapters for this story, Due to real life, I only have so much time to write the chapters for my stories. thus, the short chapters. But eventually i will make longer chapters, just not now when i have school and work. This will probably go on until January. Just be a bit patient and we'll cross that bridge till we get there. I'm glad you enjoy reading this story. :)

**_kazetoame: _ **I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far! :D Weaving stories are fun to do…now if only i can apply that to my other stories. XD LOL And i will do my best to keep writing awesome chapters!

_**cruisechick: **_Yeah, I want Sirius to meet Regulus again too, but that will come in due time. Trust me, it'll be a shock for Sirius that's for sure. I'm excited to write the scene! Although there might be some interesting altercations for the both of them. :)

_**TAL21: **_Okay, I'm done with the _**shout outs. **_If you guys will excuse me, you won't be getting another chapter till sunday. Why? Because HOMEWORK THAT"S WHY! *faints* I swear this will all be worth it in the end. I will work 12 to 16 hour shifts and i will have a good source of income coming in. Yeah, that sounds like a plan to me! Anyways, _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_I would very much like to hear from you guys and what your thought are on this story. :) See you next chapter! :D

_**Question Time!: **_This time you guys get to ask me questions! What questions do you want answered? Or rather ask me about how i do things around my stories or what's up in real life? Anything. :)

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	10. Chapter 10

**_Black As The Blood in Our Names_**  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

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><p>Dinner was an interesting event in the large windowed dinning room. Regulus had noted that Zoe Grey was a very studious young woman. She drank up the knowledge in the Black Family Tome, as she even squealed a little bit when she came across the Dark Arts section of the book.<p>

"Oh WOW! This is amazing! Who would have thought that Egyptian hieroglyphs would be very useful in blood rituals! I'll have to try one of these out. Wow!" Her violet eyes lit up as she explained to Regulus that blood rituals are not necessarily dark.

"You see, Blood rituals are stronger than your basic wand spells. If you want an illness protection on say, your first born son, you would only prick his and your index fingers and speak the right chant three times, and you are done. Your son wouldn't have to deal with illnesses for the rest of his childhood. Most, if not all, blood rituals are more 'White Magics' than anything else. " Zoe spoke after she stabbed a piece of steak and popped it into her mouth.

Regulus had to admit, that the white skinned woman that sat across from him was chock full of information. She would have been a worthy Ravenclaw, and perhaps maybe Slytherin, if she had went to Hogwarts. When he had asked her if she did go to Hogwarts, she lifted her nose in the air, wrinkling it as if she smelled something bad.

"I mean no offense to your school, but I wasn't interested in Hogwarts." She shook her head and then smiled.

"I went to the Institute of Magic in Kyoto, Japan. Granted, when I first arrived, people thought I was a joke. I got used to it and learned a hellava lot more of different magics in its splendor." She said as she took a drink of her licorice tea.

"A joke? Was it because you came from a family of squibs?" Regulus asked.

Amphitrite let out a chuckle at this question.

"Ah, no. Over in Japan they never cared much about squibs. Although the squibs over there get better jobs than the witches and wizards themselves, its not that. I suffer from a rare form of Albinism. My skin and hair are white as snow and my vision isn't all that good either. I have to constantly put sunscreen on my skin. I burn like a lobster." She laughed.

"I remember the first few weeks when i was eleven at the time i went to school, the kids from the surrounding area would scream bloody murder and shout: "Shinigami!" I laughed at it at first because what it means is 'death god'. The Japanese are a bit more paranoid...the witches and wizards at least." She said as she rubbed her eyes a little.

"Oh? You might have to explain that to me. why would they call you Death?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, the color white is the color's symbolism of Death in their culture." She said a little softly.

"It wasn't your fault, my dear. If I recall correctly, Zeus Grey back in 1756, on your great-great-grandfathers side had the same condition. It just pops up every few centuries I believe." Amphritrite said taking a sip of her tea.

"And besides, you still came out on top of the school system, Regardless of the color of your skin." She spoke placing her tea down.

"I'm of you class? That must be fairly stressful. " Regulus spoke as he took a bite of the chicken dish that was in front of him.

"Well, in the Hit Wizard Association, they don't accept anything less. I'm a researcher mostly, I've been out in the field a few times since I've joined. But I don't fight often. When it comes to offensive spells, I'm pants at them. Protective Magics, Blood Arts, Family Magics, Tracking charms, and Spirit Magics." She said as she popped a grape into her mouth.

"Spirit magics?" Regulus inquired.

This is new. He had never heard of Spirit Magic before. Then again, back before he died, the Obscure Arts were named aptly for what they are. Obscure. Like Mind Magics, there's not too much information on them.

"Care to explain?" Regulus asked the whiteskinned woman across from him.

"Spirit Magics are more of a Branch of Ancient Magics. But they are closely related. Spirit magics are mostly used in Asia and some parts of Europe depending on the location. When I was learning about the Spirit Arts in Japan, the most main reason to use them is to bring the other side to aid those who are in desperate need." She said as she placed an index finger on her chin.

"You mean bringing the dead back to life?" Regulus shivered a little, thinking of the inferi that had dragged him down into the dark waters of that cursed cave.

"NO! Bringing back the dead. You have to be insane to do that." She muttered the last part.

"It's more of bringing ghosts from the other side here. You have ghosts correct?" She raised a brow at him.

"Yes..." Regulus drawled.

"That's what the Spirit arts are. But your ghosts are see through and wisp-like." She was trying to find a way to explain it better to Regulus.

"Ah!" she snapped her fingers in exclamation.

"Have you heard of a Paladin charm?" she asked.

Now there was something that Regulus recognized.

"Yes. I have used it a few times before." He said slightly proud of himself for doing so.

"Paladin charms are a type of Spirit Magic. Similar to the Patronus chram, which is also a type of Spirit magic, come from the soul of the witch or wizard who produces it. While a Patronus come from the most happiest memory one can think of to ward of some dark creatures like Dementors, a Paladin comes from the depths of the soul. It is a very powerful protective charm." She explained.

"What is the difference between a Patronus and a Paladin?" He asked, curious about the two similar charms.

Amphitrite spoke up.

"A Patronus is an advocate. It literally translates to 'to call upon one's aide.' You call upon your happiest memory to bring forth the 'soul' of that happiness to life, so to speak. In the old days, witches and wizards would call upon the memories of their fathers to protect them. 'Patre' in the Patronus charm is 'Father'. As the head of the family, it is a father's duty to protect the family at all costs. In this case, the Patronus would take the shape of the animal the father has taken." Ampritrite spoke smiling softly.

"Grandmother, I couldn't have said it myself. And if, for example, if a significant other had a patronus of say, a bear and she married into her husbands family, her patronus would change to his animal form of his patronus if it is a horse. Due to the fact that she married into his family, her patronus is now under his name." She said smiling.

"Now, A paladin...grandmother, how would you put it? 'A Knight from the depths of the soul'?" she asked the elderly woman.

"You could put it that way." The blind woman said as she wiped her lip from the food she had eaten, signifying that she was done.

"A knight?" Regulus asked.

His mind went into theory mode. Dark Wizards can't produce a patronus, much less a paladin. For light charms and spells to work, they come from happy or pleasant thoughts and memories. Bellatrix for example. She has said her happiest memories were killing those who stood in the way of her lord. Unfortunately, when she tried to summon a patronus, it backfired on her.

"For a Paladin charm to work, the witch or wizard has to be pure?" He asked.

Zoe's face pinched slightly.

"No. Anyone can produce a paladin, but...there is only one side effect to the charm." She said as she leaned back in her chair templing her fingers together.

"Magic has a tendency to have side effects. What else is new?" Regulus deadpanned.

"The thing of it is, Paladin charms are dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Although in your family's case, you could summon multiple Paladins. Given your history with constellations and great stars, it is simple. Your name." She said seriously.

"My name? What does my name have to do with my Paladin, or my 'knight from the depths of my soul'?" He asked.

"Your name is Regulus right? Lion Heart and Little King." She spoke the translations of his name.

He nodded, curious of how his name had anything to do with a Paladin charm.

She smiled wickedly and her violet eyes glinted in the setting sun that peered through the windows, making them look like a deep royal purple-red. Like sparkling Amethysts. His heart slightly beat a little faster, but ignored the feeling.

"What is your Paladin?" She asked.

"A lion." He replied simply.

"Lion heart. Your 'knight of your soul' is a lion for a reason. You were named after the brightest star in the Leo constellation." She smiled.

"Names are powerful when it comes to magic. That fact that you were named that was no coincidence. Especially in the Black family." Zoe spoke as she sighed lightly.

" So where are you going with this?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

Zoe had the grace to blush and coughed a little.

"Well...Like I said, names are powerful. One of the many secrets of the Black family is just that. Naming you after great stars and constellations. If you are connected to those things, you have the power of the stars behind you. You could summon a different paladin, like Altair, or Sirius, and their respective forms come out. The eagle or the bear-dog." She said as she looked up at him.

Regulus reeled back and tried to figure out this information. The Spirit Magics were defiantly something he would have to look up when he got back to Britain. They must hold so much power.

"So...how powerful are Spirit magics?" He asked breathlessly.

Amphitrite spoke up softly.

"Spirit magics are are attached to many different things. Arithmancy, Astrology, Divination, herbology, and gemology, to name a few. Some spirit magics are more attuned to names than others. For example, my granddaughter's name is Zoe. Which in greek, means life. Her name is attuned to the number three, due to the fact there are three letters in her name. She was born on the seventh day of the third month of 1971. Her Paladin is attuned to my name and numbers of my year. The animal symbolism for her name, is a Dove." She said the last part graciously.

Zoe blushed a bit at the slight praise in her grandmother's voice.

"Although due to the fact that the Grey Family is a Secret Keeper for the Black Family, we have your coat of arm's animals as our symbol as well. Ravens." She said as she stood up grabbing the Black Family tome.

"In other words: Paladins are most powerful out of all other magics." Regulus said as the information sunk in.

Zoe nodded.

"Pretty much. But I never told you the side effect of summoning a Paladin, right?" She said as she was about to retire for the night.

"And what would that be?" He asked as he too stood up.

She looked up at him with a strange look in her eyes. They looked...hollow and she looked down and shuffled in place.

"Madness. Spirit Magics cause madness if you don't know what you are doing. Even over summoning your Patronus would drain you out. Because you are literally summoning part of your soul to come out of your body..." She trailed off as she bit her pale lips.

Regulus shifted from one foot to the other. Madness? Magic could never give him a break now could it?

"You said you have summoned a Paladin before, correct?" Amphitrite spoke up.

"Yes?" Regulus said unsurely.

"Then you have a fairly good grasp on the Paladin charm. What are you usually doing when you are summoning it?" The elderly woman's pale and milky eyes looked straight at him.

_Regulus's mind went reeling back to when he first summoned his first Paladin. He closed his eyes and remembered when he was in the Forbidden Forest near Hogwarts his 6th year. Sirius and him had the largest row that Hogwarts had ever seen. It had resulted in a fistfight between him and his elder brother. He could remember trying to get Sirius to get his damn head out of his arse for once and not shame the Black name. Of course, this resulted in him and his brother getting detention._

_Sirius's detention was basically scrubbing cauldrons until the winter hols. All spotlessly clean. Regulus's punishment was to go into the Forbidden forest with Hagrid to find potions ingredients for Slughorn. He had nothing against Hagrid by any means, but leaving him in the forest where there were acromantulas, centaurs, and other various beings that could easily kill you was a sore spot for him._

_It was acromantulas that found him when he was looking for bloodroot for a potion that Slughorn wanted to make. He was running for his life to escape them. He even sent back blasting hexes to get them off of his trail. Until he remembered a spell that even he thought was obscure. A spell similar to the patronus. He remembered turning around and shouting the words: "Surge, Paladinus animarum."_

_It was a spell that rolled right off of his tongue and he had felt an overwhelming surge of magic and something more rise from his core and burst from his wand. The acromanutlas that were hunting him down, never stood a chance. He felt protected, wanted, and loved when he saw the starry, black, night pelted lion in front of him, his roars shaking the ground. The acromantulas fell back, running from the creature that Regulus had summoned._

_He remembered how the majestic creature turned to him and walked up to him. He couldn't help but stare in aw. The Paladin was practically huge! Tall as Hagrid if possible. He noticed that in the center of the Lion's starry chest was a bright light. The brightest star in the constellation Leo. Regulus. Little King. Lion Heart. The starry pelted lion walked beside him back to Hagrid's hut and faded out of existence when he walked out of the Forbidden Forest. He remembered passing out before taking another step._

"I was protecting myself. And I needed a spell to fight off acromantulas." He said as he opened his eyes.

He didn't jump back when a pair of amethyst eyes were right in front of him.

"A paladin is exactly what it is. A protector and a fighter. Unlike a Patronus that defends against dementors and some dark creatures, A Paladin could take on a witch or wizard and kill them if need be." She said as she stepped back away from him.

Something popped into his mind. He wondered...

"Could you do a Paladin?" He asked.

Regulus and Zoe never noticed Amphitrite smile brightly at them.

Zoe smiled and took out a white wand.

"Of course. Spirit magics is one of my favorite things to do." She said as she waved her wand in a gentle and calming manner.

"Surge, Paladinus animarum." She said with a gentle power.

It was a feeling that Regulus had felt before when Zoe has summoned the Paladin. A burst of bright white light came from her wand and in front of them was a giant raven. Pure white in every way, glowing warmly in the room like the noonday sun, beating it's wings so that it would hover in mid air. It gave a mighty screech before fading away.

The rest of the night was quiet. Zoe went to her family's library to find some books to translate some of the chapters in the Black Family Tome, and Regulus was left pondering his plans for the near future. He then decided that Zoe Grey would be a worthy ally to have on his side.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Regulus had spoken with both Amphitrite and Zoe, and stepping outside his private zone of keeping his plans to himself, and told them of his plans to usurp Tom Riddle's reign. Amphitrite, surviving the wizarding world war back in 1911 with Grindelwald as well as World War Two with Hitler, a muggle who tried to commit mass genocide of a race and some of lesser races (the Jews, the gypsys, and somehow a few wizarding families that somehow got caught up in the mess), she would rather have her granddaughter safe and sound doing research at her job at the Hit Wizard Association in an office than go against a power mad half-blood with a trigger happy finger for the killing curse. Although, her granddaughter was old enough to take care of herself. But that still doesn't mean a Grandmother like her can still worry for her grandchildren.<p>

Zoe on the other hand was strangely calm by the fact that she would be helping out Regulus Black to take down a wizard in Britain. Too calm actually. Multiple scenarios ran through her head about how this may end up. Until she spoke up.

"Why the hell isn't your ministry doing anything about this?" She asked as she rubbed her forehead.

Regulus frowned at Zoe's blunt manner.

"Look, I've heard about Britain's little spat that happened back in the early 80s. People of all blood kinds were dying, old bloods suddenly killed off, muggle-borns and half-bloods dying left an right and families wiped out." Zoe lifted her violet eyes at him.

She was wearing red framed glasses today, claiming that her contacts were irritating her eyes since she got back.

"You knew about this?" He asked.

"Tch, yeah and every other ministry in the world. I looked at the records of the HWA, keep in mind they are connected around the world here, and their willingness to take care of this 'Lord Voldemort' and you wouldn't be dealing with this..." Zoe stood up and walked back and forth.

"The records showed that Britain had it under control. Let me tell you something, if your British Ministry tries to keep this under wraps this time, most likely the World Ambassadors will get involved and Britain's so called respect will plummet, not to mention any witch or Wizard, muggleborn, half-blood or old-blooded from Britain will be monitored. Are you guys still living in the Medieval era?" Zoe said looking at Regulus with a face that looked like she sucked on a sour lemon.

Regulus looked down at the floor sheepishly. He couldn't speak for the Ministry about this situation. Although, back then, When Minister Bagnold was trying to make peace and catch Death Eaters and nipping the uprising in the bud, her council no doubt turned their back on her and never contacted other ministries help to take care of Tom Riddle. Fudge isn't much better. At least Bagnold tried her hardest to stop it.

"Unity in the world, my ass." Regulus frowned thinking about Albus Dumbledore.

"You could say that." Regulus said as he sat up straight in his seat.

Zoe frowned and face-palmed herself.

"No wonder Britain is on such a closed border. You guys never asked for help." She muttered as she sat back down.

"Well, don't blame the people of Britain, blame the ones who are trying to run it." Regulus said as she sighed as he leaned back against his seat.

Regulus kept his eyes on Zoe. She was pacing back and forth, muttering to herself about politics and how Wizarding Britain are being ignorant about the whole 'Lord Voldemort.'.

"Do they know that Voldemort was performing magics of a neferious kind? You said something about Horcruxes? That stuff is nasty to even think about." She shivered.

"No." Regulus stated.

"What. Is. WRONG. With. Your. Damn. Ministry?" Zoe glared at him.

"They are placing most of the work onto the Wizengemot. And Most of the Pressure is on Albus Dumbledore. I told you that he is the Headmaster of Hogwarts, he also leads a group of people called the Order of the Phoenix against Riddle's Death Eaters. We do have a spy among them, but we don't have that many people in the Order..." He said as he trailed off...seeing Amphitrite's face suddenly darkened.

"What? Albus Dumbledore is leading a Vigilante group against this wizard who's plan is to kill off potential strong witches and wizards?" She said disgustedly.

Regulus was actually shocked at the blind woman's tone.

"I've heard the stories with his fight with Grindelwald. Your Ministry never did anything back then either. Did you know that Dumbledore and Grindelwald were actually best mates? They wanted to rule the Wizarding world, 'For The Greater Good.' Humph. Such lark. Dumbledore backed out before he was too deep into it." She said frowning.

"For the Greater Good? Oh for Merlin's saggy left nut, this isn't the Medieval times! I suppose he believes a prophecy of some savior of some kind to save Britain..." She trailed off as she saw Regulus's face turn into a sheepish smile.

"Ah...about that..." He chuckled nervously.

"No...Please tell me he doesn't believe in Prophecy?" Zoe asked desperately, with worry in her eyes.

Regulus basically shattered her dreams. He wasn't one to beat around the bush at this point.

"There was a Prophecy saying that the Savior of the Wizarding World and Riddle would clash, but one cannot live while the other survives. Harry Potter is only 15 years old and he's gotten by on luck so far. Just last year he was part of the Tri-Wizard Tournament." He said blankly.

Zoe groaned. Then started to rant in Greek. The woman was passionate, he'll give her that.

"A Tri-Wizard Tournament? You are seriously backwards in the times, you damn Brits. And a damn Prophecy? Even the GREEKS know that prophecies are dangerous to mess with. And you are saying that the boy is only 15 years old..." Zoe paled if that was even possible with her white skin.

"15 years old...and he's the bloody SAVIOR of the wizarding WORLD?" She ranted off again.

Regulus had to admit that it was quite ridiculous. Savior of Britain? That was more possible. But by the way Zoe was muttering to herself, the world? That was a pretty big stretch. The more he spoke with Zoe and Amphitrite, the more he understood that yes, Britain was back on the times. Hell, the few times he went out on the town, he couldn't tell who was witch or who was wizard until he came across Olympus Way, the Wizarding Market. Even then, he noticed that most if not all Wizards were wearing muggle clothing. He realized that more witches and wizards outside of the UK were blending in more proficiently then they did 100 years ago. Amphitrite told him that seeing that the muggles are progressing faster, the Wizarding world has to abandon certain traditions in order to protect Wizarding Societies.

Regulus at first thought that it was preposterous. Why abandon the traditions that has been part of Wizarding Culture for hundreds of years? It wasn't until he went to the Grey's library that he had the answer to. There can still be traditions in place, but many traditions has been let go of. Clothing for example. Witches and wizards not keeping up looking at least similar to the muggles, will be fined 200 galleons, due to the fact that an Auror would need to obliviate a few muggles. Paying Aurors are expensive. Regulus had to laugh a little at that. He then pictured Albus Dumbledore in bright neon and wacky colored clothing in Britain. If he had dressed up somewhere else in the world, no doubt he would be fined a thousand times older.

He never liked Albus Dumbledore, now that he looked back on his past. His twinkling, blue, grandfatherly eyes and the kind deposition that he projected were signs of a master manipulator. He was glad to be in Slytherin instead of Gryffindor like his brother. He rubbed his forehead and leaned back in the chair trying to plan ahead, but his mind was muddled and the only thing that stood out was that if he needed more information to get rid of Riddle, he had to get the job of DADA teacher at Hogwarts.

"Which is why I need your help. My family magic won't take me as far as I hope it would. Even if you were to reveal all the secrets of my family to me." He said as he stopped Zoe mid rant.

"My help?" She asked.

"Buddy, I would have to file a bit of paperwork for me to get time off as well and getting an international portkey to get to London. Getting to Hogwarts on the other hand? Your ministry would go up in arms and demand a reason why a Greecian Hit Wizard Researcher would be in the UK. That's suicide by paper work and delegation." She deadpanned.

"I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't know the stakes. Although, I'm asking you to bend the rules a bit." Regulus smirked.

"Bending the rules, Young Black? How Slytherin of you." Amphitrite smiled.

"How so?" she asked.

Regulus smiled. He had a plan. If the International Ministries haven't been able to get any inside information for the UK, he could sneak in Zoe.

"You are a researcher correct? What other jobs can you do?" He asked.

Zoe blinked at him before talking about her job.

"On top of the fact that I'm a researcher and informant, my spying skills are sub-par. Being a large white Raven helps sometimes. I've been out in the field a few times, but only as a shield of defense. Like I said, my defensive skills are more powerful than my offensive. In my team, I'm also a back up if things go wrong. With my knowledge of the Blood Arts, Spirit Magics, and Tracking Charms, I'm pretty much damn good strategist. Contingency plans are my best friend." She smiled.

Regulus hit the jackpot with this girl.

"Alright." He said as he stood up and walked over to Zoe.

"You say that the International Ministries and HWA don't have enough information coming out of the Ministry, right? Right now, All I can say that it is a mess. Have you heard of a Man named Cornelius Fudge?" He asked.

"Fudge? They put in that crackpot?" Amphitrite spoke up.

"Grandma!" Zoe said shocked that her grandmother would use such words.

"Forgive me, last I've heard of Fudge he was doing a real cock-up about the Boy Who Lived. Missing for 10 years and then shows up out of nowhere." Amphitrite said bitterly.

"Grandma... how did you know of that?" Zoe asked.

"Oh, I never told you? I subscribe to The Daily Prophet." The blind elderly woman beamed.

"Oi. Grandparents. So..." Zoe rolled her eyes before turning to Regulus.

"What is your plan then? What does Fudge have to do with this?" She asked.

"Fudge care more about his status as MoM, then anything else. If you had information that he has been interfering and stopping the progression to stop Tom Riddle, what would happen?" He asked.

Zoe gave a humorless laugh before running her hand through her white hair. He wondered briefly if it felt soft.

"Well one thing is for certain, placing the entire population of witches and wizard in danger of genocide, well most likely six major Ministries would get involved. Should Tom Riddle manage to take over UK, well, he's in for a rough time. He'd be making war with the rest of the world." Zoe said haunted.

"But, thus far, you know he hasn't made his move yet. So we should be safe for now. Now the Six major ministries involved would be America, South America, Africa, Asia, Russia, and Australia. No doubt that they would send their best fighters to take out Riddle in a heartbeat. But if we can't get in the UK due to the Ministries regulations...we have no choice but to ignore them." Zoe said as she thought a few second more.

"Although, the HWA is completely separate from Ministries. We are basically Assassins, Mercenaries, and killer for hire in a way, although we pride ourselves in justice. Now, if we had information that you MoM is withholding information that Tom Riddle is wreaking havoc and not doing a damn thing about it, HWA repots to the six major ministries and they will intervene. They will announce that the UK is incompetent in its running as Ministry and will rebuild the entire Ministry from the ground up." She said seriously.

Regulus paled at the notion. In fact he felt a little sick hearing that and he sat down in shock. He never realized that outside of Britain there are ministries who are packing. On another hand, replacing the corrupt officials and politicians wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Well then, How would you like to help me fight against Riddle and relay information to your Association to make a better society for Wizarding UK?" He asked Zoe.

Regulus's main goal was to take down Tom Riddle, but if he could re-make the Ministry in tow, he wouldn't have to worry so much about injustice anymore. Hell, he could take back his seat in Wizengemot if it comes to that.

Zoe rubbed her chin in thought.

"Defiantly Ravenclaw." He thought to himself.

"Might as well. I'll take care of some paperwork and send in a recommendation for data gathering. But first off, bending the rules a bit. How are you exactly going to get me into the UK without making much fuss?" She asked.

Regulus grinned at her, his silver eyes glimmering.

"Oh, I have a few ways." He said charmingly.

* * *

><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Um…not sure if this chapter is good or not, i hope it is by adding a few things about politics and some obscure magus in there. I hope you liked it! I can't wait to write the next chapter because we will be back in Britain for Regulus to get his letter from Hogwarts, Zoe dealing a bit with the Black Madness that Regulus falls into for a short moment (how did she get into Britain? You'll see), and we get to see Sirius too! :D _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Renata MM:**_To answer your last question's chapter, remember Lockheart? Dumbledore must be going through a lot of paperwork just to find a decent DADA professor. XD Thank you for reviewing! That was an awesome review you left for me. I enjoyed it a lot! :D

_**TAL21: **_That's it for _**shout outs. **_ (Geez you guys don't like me very much do you?) I hope you have fun reading this! I'm off to school and work and real life! _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They help writers like me keep writing and posting! Have a great day! See you in the next chapter! :D

_**QUESTION TIME!: **_Same question from last chapter. Ask me any questions you have about this vic or my other tics in general, or just see what's up and how I'm writing. :)

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	11. Chapter 11

**_Black As The Blood in Our Names_**  
>by TimeAndLife21<p>

* * *

><p>Regulus returned to Britain under the guise of Rex Whitestone. Wearing a dapper looking grey suit, a trench coat over it, a green tie, and a thick silver and green scarf on, he walked down the busy London road to The Leaky Cauldron to get to Diagon ally. His messy brown hair and hazel eyes were sharp. His paranoia slightly kicking in. In his left hand was a rather large gold cage. In that cage, was an large white raven. It cawed angrily at him.<p>

"Now, now, how else would I have been able to get you through security? I told you, those Aurors don't exactly check for Animangi that's for sure." Regulus chuckled.

Just before Regulus and Zoe left Greece, she was adamant that she would go to Britain in her human form.

_"NO! I will not go as an animal! Plus, white ravens are not exactly common!" She had said angrily._

_"I can just explain that I picked you up from an exotic breeder." He said slyly._

He had never seen her blush that red. Either way, he won the argument. The upside, he managed to sneak her into Britain without much trouble. The downside, she cawed and squawked at him every chance she got.

"Now listen up. I have purchased a safe house in Diagon Ally. Luckily for us, it is close to Gringotts. So we won't have to worry too much about traveling to the bank for withdrawals." He said as he walked into the dank pub. he managed to catch a few suspicious eyes but most of the people in the pub ignored him.

Zoe quieted down and gave the evil eye to anyone who dared look at her. In her raven form, she was a bit more sassy than she was in her human form. He gave a nod to Tom, the owner of the pub, and went out through the back door. He took out the black wand that was in his hand and tapped the sequence of bricks to open up the doorway to Diagon Ally.

The hustle and bustle of people were everywhere. Regulus remembered why he hated crowds. He sneered as he moved gracefully through the throes of people to get to the apartment building he was heading to. It was a very well built place. When he entered the lobby it had a homey feel to it. The dark reds, creams, and golds gave it a very relaxing environment. Since he had already paid for the apartment before he came here, he went straight toward the elevator.

Zoe cawed in question and her beady purple eyes looked up at him.

"Yes. I got an apartment, no, it is not as lavish as the lobby." He said to the animagus.

The elevator dinged onto the 21st floor and opened up. He walked down the length of the hallway to door number 21 and entered the room with his magical signature on the doorknob. The door opened up and he walked inside.

The apartment was already furnished with blue, black, and steel grey. It was pleasing to the eyes and he smiled to himself. He would have to tip the housekeeping for getting these colors. He went to the nearest table, placed the golden cage onto it, and then opened up the door to let Zoe out. The white raven hopped out and stretched her wings before shifted into her human form. She was sitting on top of the table wearing black slacks and a black blouse. He was curious of how she managed to blend in her black clothes into her animangus form, but he didn't question it.

"Finally!" She stretched out before she hopped off of the table bare footed.

"I thought you enjoyed being hauled around in a cage." He raised an eyebrow and smirking.

"You try being stuffed in a cage. I prefer freedom of flying than being in a cage." She said as she popped her neck a bit.

"In fact, you should have let me fly here. It would have been easier." She said as she walked over to a window.

Regulus shook his head at the white skinned girl and smiled.

"Kreacher!" He barked.

A crack sounded throughout the apartment and the little house elf spoke.

"Master Regulus!" Kreacher praised.

"Hello Kreacher. I need you to do me a favor." He said to the little house elf.

"Master Regulus want Kreacher for favor?" Kreacher croaked.

"Yes. See that woman over there?" Regulus pointed at Zoe as she opened up the curtains to looked down into the ally, her face showed wonder at the busy people down below.

"Yes. Master Regulus brings home a young woman. Master Regulus already plans to continue the Black line?" Kreacher inquired.

Regulus stood stock still before mock glaring at his friend. He was a bit shocked that Kreacher would ask that, although it bears in mind that if Sirius won't continue the line, Regulus will. And it won't be anytime soon. Not while there's a war brewing at least.

"No, Kreacher. She is a comrade. I need you to get clothing for her. You can use my Whitestone vault for money. But we need clothes for her. I had to sneak her into Britain so she could gather data around about Riddle and his death eaters." He smiled down at Kreacher.

As soon as he had said that, Zoe turned around and walked over to Regulus.

"Alright, what are we going to do while we are here?" She asked.

Her eyes went to the house elf that was in front of her. She kneeled down and smiled at Kreacher.

"Hello. And who might you be?" She asked.

"This is Kreacher, my house elf. And one of my close friends. Kreacher, this is Zoe." He introduced Kreacher to her.

Kreacher looked her over with a calculating eye, as if he was determining that she wasn't a threat.

"Kreacher...welcomes Master Regulus's guest." The house elf said critically.

Zoe didn't seem put off by Kreacher's attitude.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kreacher." she said politely.

Regulus cleared his throat and looked up and down Zoe's body.

"If you decide to leave this place, make sure you blend in." He suggested.

Zoe smirked at him.

"I haven't worked for the HWA for nothing. Don't worry, I won't stand out much." Zoe said as she smiled just a little.

"Okay. Kreacher is going to find you some clothes that you can wear, I'll also look for a collar that you can wear to show ownership." Regulus said as he opened an owl window near the the Kitchen window.

"What?" Zoe said as she glared at him.

"Don't jump to conclusions. Do you want to be captured in you animangus form?" He replied.

Zoe was about to speak but stopped.

"Okay fine, as long as you don't call me pet, that'll be fine." She sulked.

Regulus smirked at his comrade.

"Good. Kreacher, go get her some clothes. I'll be heading off to Ollivander's to get a second wand." He said as he was about to go out the door.

"What am I? Chopped Lamb?" Zoe asked. "I can shop for my own clothes, I'm not an invalid." She said as she crossed her arms.

Regulus looked at her with an eyebrow raised.

"You are white everywhere darlin'. You are barefoot, you wear muggle clothes, and you will stick out in this crowd." Regulus stated.

Zoe gave him a glare and then sighed, muttering something about Britain being behind the times, giving up the argument because she knows he's right about what he said. She would stick out and things wouldn't looks so well. Turning to Kreacher, she knelt down as she asked him,

"Kreacher, if you are getting me clothes, can you please get me the colors, black, blue, green, and grey?" She asked the house elf.

Kreacher looked up at the woman whom his master had brought home, he croaked, "Kreacher would do that. Yes, for Master Regulus's guest."

Regulus smiled down at Kreacher. There was one thing that Regulus had always done that he family hasn't. Treating Kreacher with kindness. Zoe was showing him the exact same curtesy.

"Right then. I'll see you when I get back." Regulus said as he left the room locking it behind him.

* * *

><p>Regulus, under his glamor, went walking down the Main street to Ollivanders. He wasn't so sure about getting a wand there. If anything, he could pop over to Knockturn Ally and see one of the more obscure wand makers there sometime later this week.<p>

_"No...I'll go there for a couple of weapons. That might help me out with a few unexpected surprises."_ He thought to himself.

He didn't want to jump the gun so soon. There was a high chance that he won't get a return letter back from Hogwarts to work the position of DADA professor. But there had to be a way to help out the Potter boy if it comes to that. Bringing up his pure blood mannerisms to the forefront of his mind (Zoe called it Old Blood instead, insisting that it's less snobbish that way) and entered the wand shop.

He felt a little nostalgic as he walked inside. He was taken back to when he was 11 when he got his first wand. Hawthorn, 9 and 3/4 inches. It served him well until he lost it in the waters when the inferi dragged him down. He had the black wand that the woman of light gave him, but he didn't know what it held. He would present it to Ollivander and see what he thinks.

"What have we here?" An old gravely voice spoke.

Regulus turned and saw Mr. Ollivander standing behind his desk, his moon bright blue eyes staring at him as if something peculiar happened.

"I'm told that this is where I could have a good wand?" Regulus asked.

"Of course! I must say, I don't believe I have seen you before." Ollivander said as he walked out behind the desk and moved closer to him.

"My name is Rex Whitestone. I would like to acquire a wand, if you please." Regulus asked.

"Well my good fellow, I can already tell that you have a wand on you. Why come here for a second one?" Ollivander asked.

Regulus took the opportunity and took out the pure black wand that he was given, presenting it to the elderly man.

"This wand was given to me as a...gift, of sorts. I already know that it's compatible with my core, but i wouldn't mind having another one as well." Regulus said smiling.

"A gift? Might I see this wand?" He asked.

Regulus felt a little reluctant to let the wand go but he wanted to know what materials it has. He gingerly handed it over to Ollivander and the man examined it.

"Curious...I have never seen such a wand crafted like this." Ollivander said as he handled it gently.

"Do you have an idea what it is crafted from?" Regulus asked.

"Well, that's the thing. This wand is masterfully crafted. The wood is a black wood, similar to Black Walnut, yet I can't decipher what kind. Yes, it is 13 inches exact. The core..." Ollivander babbled as he took out an eyeglass and placed it near his eye to look through it to have a closer look,

"The core is interesting. I haven't seen anything like it. It seems to be made...AH!" Ollivander said as he ran to the front door and turned a sign to close the store.

"Mr. Whitestone. May I ask how your wand has an emerald inside it's core?" Ollivander asked.

"Emerald?" Regulus asked.

"If you want to be more technical, your wand core has an emerald gem core and wrapped around it- a Thestral hair and Unicorn hair. Now that is very special." Ollivander spoke as he gave back the wand into Regulus's hand.

"Thestral and unicorn hair? Emerald?" Regulus was wondering why a gem would be inside a wand and two opposite creatures hairs as well.

Gems inside wands is a tricky business. If a users magical core isn't up to par with a wand with a gem core in it, it back fires. That's about the general gist that Regulus knows.

"I haven't come across a wand with a gem in it for many, many years. Of course the practice died out in the late 1800s, as certain magical gems were tuned to a persons magical core, before even creating the wand." Ollivander looked closely at Regulus.

"Wands with Gems inside of them are receptive to the users magical core. Amplifying it tenfold. Of course if used incorrectly, it could drain the user and kill him. You must have great willpower to have that much control over your magic." Ollivander spoke.

"You seem...familiar to me, Mr. Whitestone. Have we met before?" He asked.

"No. But I have heard that you make the best wands." Regulus commented hoping that Ollivander could handle a little flair for the ego.

"Well, why come here for a second wand then?" He asked curiously.

"You already have one that is clearly tuned to you. Whatever the case." He stated looking him over.

"I've grown attached to this wand-it would be a shame for it to be broken leaving me defenseless in these times." Regulus said as he twirled the black wand in his hand.

Ollivander stared at him for a time, then he spoke,

"Very well, but I would have to make a custom wand for you. None of these wands would choose you." He said as he beckoned Regulus to come behind the desk.

Regulus followed slightly confused at the words Ollivander had spoken.

"Might I ask why?" Regulus asked.

"For one thing, that 'gift' you have, is a rare one. I will say this, who ever crafted that wand you have in your hand, must've been a very powerful witch or wizard. Wandmaking is never that simple. As for the wands my fore fathers and myself have created in the past, they wouldn't match up to you." Ollivander said as they entered a back room.

The statement make Regulus miss his first wand. Even though he had lost it in the black waters of that thrice damned cave, he wished he could have it again. Then again, the woman of light gave him this wand for a reason. But he didn't want to use it unless in dire situations. There was something else that the black wand held that he didn't want to mess with.

Regulus felt honored as he walked into the wandmaker's workshop. There were benches with wood on them and shelves of many different materials. Boxes of things were everywhere and there was many mysterious things in the workshop. Ollivander then turned to him and held out his hand.

"Let me hold the wand you have. We wouldn't want it interfering with you choosing the materials for me to make." Ollivander cautioned.

"Choosing?" Regulus asked as he gave the elderly man his wand.

"You must have your magical core choose the materials to match it up with yourself. The wood, the core, the metal to bind it, and the handle. The cores would be a bit tricky. You can choose up to seven, but very rarely is there a seven part core for a wand. Three would be a maximum, similar to the wand you have." Ollivander said as he placed the black wand gently onto a clean and clear work bench.

Regulus felt a bit stupid as he walked around the shop. Ollivander didn't seem to be in a hurry, so he decided to take it a bit more slow. He closed his eyes and stood still, calming his mind and letting out slow deep breaths. Then he lifted his hand and from his core, sent magic into it. The reaction was instantaneous. He opened his eyes and he followed where his magic was pulled to.

He went to a bench that contained wand woods. Some were crooked, some were angled and some were straight. He came across a straight dark wood and reached out to it. It looked like it was that same length as the black wand he has, except it was a dark blood red, almost black, color. He walked back Ollivander and placed the empty wand by him and left to find a core. He could feel his magic stretching out and leading him over to a shelf with very dusty jars. His left hand reached up towards a light green jar covered in dust, and yet he felt another pull so to speak, as he walked downt he length of the entire shelf, leading towards a black jar. This black jar wasn't as covered in dust as it was the light green one, but he took it down anyways. Then another pull led him upward. There was a bottle just above his head and, luckily for his height, he reached for it and grabbed it. It was dustier then the previous two. Covered completely.

Coughing a little, he brought the jars and bottle over and placed them next to the empty wand. Now, Ollivander said that he needed a handle and a metal. Reaching out with his magic again, he felt himself being pulled to the nearest work bench where, behold, there were certain metals. Some were white, some were grey, some were even blue and purple. He felt a connection with the black metal in front of him, but suddenly, his hand willingly moved over to the purple metal. He picked it up and placed it by the materials. Now all he needed was a handle. Though a question came to mind.

"What are handles usually made from? Wood mostly?" Regulus said as he walked over to a shelf that looked like there was hardly any dust.

He saw many designs on the handles. Ranging from runes protections, and carved out animal designs on them. He spotted a peculiar handle that had a spike protruding from the bottom of the handle.

"Back in the old days, it was said that bones were used to make handles. But you can use wood, to bone, and to metal. Metal and wooden handles are common, bone handles are a rarity. Depending on the creature that has given it up." Ollivander said as he casted a curious look over the materials gathered.

Regulus spotted a rather dark looking handle. It was the same color as the wand wood he had picked out, if not darker than it, but it had a peculiar design on it. It had lions carved into it with celtic accents wrapping around it. Regulus chuckled at the irony.

"Ollivander, what is with this handle?" He asked as he reached out to grab it and his magic reacted to it quite pleasantly, like a fuzzy warm feeling washed over him.

"Which one is it?" Ollivander asked.

Regulus returned with the handle and passed it to the elderly man.

"Oh my!" Ollivander said surprised.

"This, my young fellow, is the bone of the Nemean lion. Granted, the bones were given to me as a gift many years ago, I played with the notion that I could make a handle out of one. Nemean Lions are very rare nowadays. They are currently on the list of rare species to protect the beasts from hunting for their pelts." Ollivander said as he observed the materials on the work bench.

"Your wand wood is Blackthorn 12 and 3/4 inches. How fascinating." He said as he felt the smooth wood on his hands.

He placed the wood down and then grabbed the light green jar and opened it up. Surprise lit up his face.

"Well, we have a dragon heartstring here, but this is rare. From a Arctic Silverflame Dragon. I had a contact 40 years ago who had taken it from the dragon. The Beast was quite docile when left alone, but when it was breeding, it was fiercely protective of it's eggs and of its mate, much more fierce than the Hungarian horntail." Ollivander said as he placed the heartstring by the wand wood.

He grabbed the dusty black jar and opened it up and he smiled.

"Ah, what have we here? War Unicorn hair." Ollivander said smiling.

"War unicorn?" Regulus asked as he stepped closer to Ollivander. He noticed the strands of black hair on Ollivander's fingers.

"War Unicorns are native to the Middle East. They were used in battle and were ferocious warriors. They would gallop into battle with no fear, and would do what ever it takes to win the battle even if their masters had fallen from their backs. Tell me, Mr. Whitestone, are you a warrior?" Ollivander asked Regulus.

He thought back to the time when he had to stay in the shadows during his time as a death eater. In the beginning, it had its charm to join 'Voldemort', but it was lost the moment after his 6th year at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, it was too late. He had taken the Dark Mark and he soul his soul to the devil. In the shadows, he would take out the lower death eaters that didn't matter much. Of course, he had to do it discreetly.

"Something like that." Regulus said vaguely.

Ollivander gave a huff and placed the hairs beside the heartstring. He then cleaned off the dusty bottle with a cloth and the color shone through. It was a blood red color and it looked like there was something in the bottle that he couldn't see.

Ollivander popped the top off and with his pinkie finger, dug inside the bottle and pulled out a feather. A feather that was as red as blood with gold striped through it.

"My, My. I recall fetching this phoenix feather. I had traveled to a phoenix colony in the highlands to find a feather that would be just as pure as the phoenix itself. The Phoenix was a young thing. A runt so to speak, but when I came close to the nest, she came forward, a tiny thing red feathers puffed everywhere, trilling at me ferociously, protecting her siblings much bigger than her. I came back three weeks later and she was fully grown. She had very little gold feathers, but I can remember sitting by her as the sun was setting before she flew away leaving behind this very feather. Quite a beautiful phoenix. Never did see her again though." He said as he placed it by the war unicorn hair.

Ollivander smiled as he picked up the purple metal.

"Corinthian Bronze. Yes, this will be the metal that will be able to bind the cores together. Goblins often use Corinthian Bronze to create their goblin made weapons and jewelry. But this, this will stabilize the three cores and keep them in harmony." Ollivander said as he placed the chunk of metal down by the wand wood.

"Your custom wand will be on par with your mystery wand. Both are strong in many ways, but will be your partners for wielding you magic. I am honored to make this wand for you, Mr. Whitestone." Ollivander spoke as he hurried Regulus out of the work room.

"It shouldn't take me too long to make it for you. Please, take a seat and be patient." Olivander spoke as he slammed the door shut on him.

Regulus went to the front of the shop, found a seat and sat down in it. He wondered briefly, who the materials he had chosen for his new wand would do for him. He was curious about most of the symbolism and the magics that they held. He would have to study up on them in the future. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. Sleeping lightly as he waited for Ollivander to finish up his work.

* * *

><p>Sirius was looking at the tapestry again. Still glowing that ominous blue. He rubbed his forehead as he tried to understand the mechanics behind the reason 'why'. He even went to the Black Family Library to figure out why is it was glowing. The Black Family tapestry has been around for centuries. So there must've been something in the books that would explain why. But he never found it. What was new though, was that his face on the tapestry was unblemished. So was various other family members that was supposedly blasted off of the family tree. It looked like new!<p>

Currently, Grimmauld Place was currently empty. Harry's friends that has been here for a half of the summer were over at the Weaslys taking a break from cleaning the place. Occasionally, Remus and Nymphadora would come over and keep him company. Better than having Kreacher. Although the annoying house elf hasn't really been around much, which was fine with him. He shook his head and observed the tapestry again. This time something caught his eye.

He noticed Bellatrix's place on the tapestry and was confused about what was going on there. He came closer to the spot of the tapestry and noticed that her picture was surrounded by blood red thread that was stitched to look like blood dripping.

"Kreacher!" Sirius barked. He heard the pop of Kreacher.

"What does Master Blood Traitor want from Kreacher?" The House Elf glared at him.

"What does this mean?" Sirius ignored the jab for once as he pointed a finger at his insane cousin's place on the tapestry.

Kreacher hobbled over and squinted his eyes at the magical red thread that was making itself known.

"Kreacher knows not the magic that is working the Tapestry." He croaked.

Kreacher's eyes then drifted over to Walburga's face and the same red thread surrounded it as well. Sirius was frustrated.

"Kreacher..." Sirius growled.

He really didn't want to ask the insane house elf for help. He'd soon rather cut out his own tongue.

"Is there a book for family tree tapestries?" He clenched his jaw.

Kreacher looked up at him and frowned.

"The Black Library has everything to Kreacher's Master's family. Master Blood Traitor's other blood traitor 'friends' made Kreacher get rid of dark books. Tapestry book...thrown out." Kreacher smiled ever so maliciously.

Sirius felt his temper skyrocket and he aimed to kick the elf, but it disappeared before he could do so.

Sirius knew it was a bad idea to let Molly Weasley take over the cleaning of Grimmauld Place. He just knew it. He turned on his heel and went past his mother's portrait. Doing so made the curtains open and the old bat's screaming. He paid no heed to it. For the past two weeks, that tapestry had been glowing an ombre blue and it drove him nuts. Now that there was red thread appearing over certain family members, he was curious as to WHY it was doing that. He entered the library and started to look at titles that dealt with family tapestries. He came across a few and took them out and placed them on his father's old oak desk. He sat himself down and started reading.

It wasn't long until he heard something coming up the stairs and a light brown hair headed man poked out from around the corner of a bookshelf.

"Padfoot?" He heard his friend, Remus, call out to him. Sirius looked up from his reading and saw the face of his werewolf best friend.

" Hey Mooney." Sirius said as he leaned back, popping his bones as he did so.

Remus winced at the sound.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Just doing a bit of light reading." Sirius said as he pushed the heavy tome away.

"Light?" Remus said as he observed the small hill of books on the desk.

"You call this light? Who are you and what have you done with my best mate?" Remus chuckled.

"Oh, Funny. Something is up with the tapestry downstairs. I want to find out why it's acting up." Sirius said as he stood up.

"Your family tapestry?" Remus asked.

Sirius passed him and waved at Remus to follow him.

"Come on, I'll show you." Sirius said as he walked down the stairs.

After they had quietly passed the portrait of Walburga Black, Sirius guided Remus to the tapestry. Surely enough, the Tapestry changed quite a bit. The were no burns on the tapestry, but there were different colored threads that were surrounding certain peoples.

Bellatrix and Walburga's faces and names were surrounded by blood red thread that seemed to drip like blood. Orion, Cygnus, and Arcturus were surrounded by green thread that looked like thorns. What was Interesting is that Sirius, Regulus, Andromeda (with her daughter Nymphadora below her) and Narcissa (along with her son Draco) were surrounded with silver-blue thread like a halo, except for the fact that Regulus's and Sirius's places on the tapestry had a more darker blue thread to it.

"What does it mean Padfoot?" Remus asked as he looked to his friend.

"Well, I would know if it wasn't for Molly tossing out certain books that pertain to things like this. Despite that fact that my family harbored dark books, they were actually useful." Sirius grudged.

"I'm wondering, didn't your mother burn you off the family tree?" Remus asked as he turned to his friend curiously.

"She did." Sirius said as he stepped forward closer to the Tapestry to observe his 'newly healed' place on the tapestry.

He looked to the side and saw the skull of his deceased brother. He felt another pang in his chest and shook his head. He

"I'll ask Molly is she hasn't tossed out any books from the library lately." Sirius said as he rubbed his forehead.

"Oh? You actually want to go through the books your family has?" Remus asked.

"Well, It's not like I have anything else to do around here." Sirius muttered before turning his back on the phenomenon that was the Tapestry of the Black Family.

* * *

><p><em>Regulus could feel himself being pulled down, down, down into the watery darkness. He could feel the inferi's clawed hands tearing at him, leaving deep penetrating scars as he was drowning. He struggled against the bindings and he reached up a free arm to the circle of light that was above the water. He stretched, reached, and he opened his mouth to let out a gurgled scream. He was being dragged further down away from the light. He could feel the pressure of the water around him crushing him. The darkness closing in on him, but all he focused on was the light above the waters.<em>

Regulus jerked awake as he greedily gulped in breathes of air. Ollivander was right in front of him, observing him. Regulus stilled and sat up straighter and cleared his throat.

"Sorry If I fell asleep." Regulus said lowly.

Ollivander smiled softly.

"You are interesting, Mr. Whitestone." Ollivander paused before reveling the wand that was crafted.

Regulus felt a bit of a pull at the wand as he stood up and reached out to it. Taking it by the handle, he sent a pulse of magic through the wand. Out came black and silver sparks.

"My, My. You must have a great amount of magic." Ollivander said as his eyes glazed over as he looked up at him.

"Runs in the family." Regulus said as he took out a small red bag of galleons and tossed it onto the front desk.

"Thank you for your time, Ollivander. Have a good night." Regulus said as he left the wand shop.

Placing the new wand onto a holster on his left arm, he then decided to pop by Knockturn ally sometime this week to get a new holster and a few items that he may need.

He managed to return to his apartment and entered it. As he did so, he noticed Zoe on the couch petting a little barn owl. Cooing over the fowl as a friend. She was wearing a black sundress, making her white skin stand out even more, her hair was up in a messy bun. He removed his glamor charm and cleared his throat. She looked up and smiled at him. She had her red rimmed glasses on.

"Well,_ Mr. Whitestone,_" She said emphasizing his fake name.

"You have a letter from Hogwarts." She smiled wickedly.

Regulus couldn't help be smile back. Perhaps things were turning out better than he expected.

* * *

><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Argh! Between Real Life and writing, real life takes over and snatches you away for responsibility…at least I'm still writing right? XD Anyways, sorry for the hold up, I had to re read OotP to get something out for you guys. And I also looked at some Regulus stories, and I have to admit, I enjoy Regulus Black. His personality seems slightly detached here, but let's face it, He had to make up his life again on the fly, he is in enemy territory (Plus you may never know who is a death eater these days) and the fact that he was raised from the dead year safer he died took it's toll on him. He'll be having a break down soon. Black Family Madness and all that. I will be having fun writing that. :D As for Sirius's involvement in the story and how the Tapestry works, take your brains and tell me what you think it means. Because I ain't telling. :D on to the _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**Guest: **_Trying to explain different type of magic it hard work. You have to really think it through an ask yourself, 'if this is how it works, then it should affect this?'. It's all a different logic together. But fun writing about it. Honestly, The prophecy thing is bullshit. Even if some prophecies came true (in some greek myths, they did come true), it's only because some power hungry mongrel want it to be true. Nuff said. As for the OCs, I'm glad you enjoy them. I would like to add something that would help out Regulus in the long run, so why not some Allys that would be able to help him out. :)

_**Drucie99: ** _Well you found out how Regulus got Zoe to Britain. And She not too happy about that. XD Harry needs training. Let's face it, you can't just go through life on sheer dumb luck alone. It'll run out eventually. And I Agree with you. Regulus is practically a black slate to work with, so why not make him a little bad ass while i'm writing him? Thats that fun part :D

_**TAL21: **_Well that's it for tonight! Next chapter will be a bit of a longer one depending on how I will find time for them. Between Taking breaks in between work schedule and class schedules, it's not that simple. So why is the Black Tapestry on the fritz? Did you like Regulus's New wand? Sirius actually being 'serious' for once and trying to get stuff taken care of in his home? Well, we'll find out in the next chapter. Regulsu makes an Appearance in Knockturn Alley, and Zoe runs into a red head that is searching for help. Sirius gets into an augment with Molly. It won't be Pretty. See you guys next chapter! _**PLEASE LEAVE OPINIONS, FEEDBACK, AND REVIEWS! **_They are addicting to me and i will write more if you just review!

_**Question Time!: **_What is you favorite quote from the series? And What questions do you have for me?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Black As The Blood In Our Names**_

by TimeAndLife21

* * *

><p>Zoe Grey walked down the street of Diagon Ally. She was finally let out after a few days. It was interesting to be dressed in robes and dress made for a lady of her standing. Being an Heir to the House of Grey wasn't so bad, plus the robe made her feel, dare she think it? Like a Lady of the Court. She was wearing deep blue robes with silver accents on them and her dress was the same shade of blue. Her skin had a glamor charm on it to make it look a bit of a tan from the sun instead of it's milk white that it usually is. Her hair was charmed to be black blue. She had twisted it up into a complicated old-blood style that her grandmother would do. A thick bun with braids wrapping around the base of it. Homage to her Old Blood Roots.<p>

She was a bit insulted to being treated like a child when Regulus wouldn't let her go out. She was a Hit Witch, damn it, she knows how to take care of herself. Granted, Offensive spells were never her strongest suit. But her defensive spells were killer. As for the other part of her job as a researcher and a spy, she would say that she had a pretty good spectrum of defending herself. She planned on going to Flourish and Blotts to pick up specific books that pertained to Wizarding Laws of the UK, as well as the history of the UK for the past 50 years or so. She needed to do a bit a research before really jumping into a plan that was half made.

She was also planning on picking up a runic translation book as well. There were a few chapters in the Black Family Tome that she wanted to translate. Some were in Sanskrit and Babylonian. A few other books wouldn't be too bad. She came across a shelf that had fiction on it and a title caught her eye. _"The Lord and The Courtesan."_ Zoe smirked at the title. Some of her co-workers have read that book and said that it was the best romance novel ever to be existed. She prefers Jane Austin Novels. Not very many people know that Jane Austin was actually a witch. A muggleborn witch to be exact. She turned away from the shelf only to run into another person who ran right into her and both went falling down.

Zoe fell back onto her bottom and a young woman was sprawled across her lap.

"Oh Merlin! I'm SO sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going." A young girl with bushy brown hair and cute brown eyes looked up at her.

The young girl was wearing muggle clothes.

Zoe shook her head at her daze before looking for the books she had. They were mixed up with a bunch of other books.

Zoe turned her head to the young girl and smiled.

"It's all right. Although I would like my books back." Zoe spoke in an Italian accent at the young girl.

She blushed fiercely and apologizes as she picked up her books and handed them to her. Zoe, likewise, did the same.

"Now what is a young _bambina_ like you doing with a whole bunch of books?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow.

The girl smiled and talked with her.

"Oh, I wanted books that dealt with runes and how it works with Astronomy. I was hoping to figure out how it coincides with each other in older magics and maybe hope to translate some things as well." The girl said.

"Really now? That's quite a feat. You are going to buy all those books?" Zoe gestured to the stack of book the girl has.

She nodded smiling.

"Yes." She said simply.

Zoe had a vague sense of Deja vu looking at this girl. Zoe was also an avid book reader and when she was younger she always studied up with a lot of things. Which is why she was the best researcher at the HWA. Of course, her other parts if the job just comes with it. The best part of being in HWA is that she gets paid bank, health benefits, and working on projects that deal with older magics. She loves her job.

"That is very ambitious of you. I'm a researcher myself." She smiled at her.

"My name is Eve Argento. Pleasure to meet a fellow book lover." She said as she nodded her head at the young girl.

"Hermione Granger. It's nice to meet you. What do you research?" She asked as he eyes shined with curiosity.

Zoe perked up. Human contact other than Regulus. She was going to have some fun.

"I research mainly obscure branches of magics. Currently I'm working on an old blood spell that supposedly is to protect the user from harmful spells. I think it is a version of the 'Protego' shield, but much more powerful." Zoe said as she came close to the truth as much as possible.

Hermione had a confused look on her face.

"Old Blood? What is that?" She asked in confusion.

Zoe could only turn to the young girl with shock. Until she realized that the UK was behind the times and she raised two fingers to her temple and rubbed it instead of face palming herself.

"It's a different variation on the word Pure Blood, although Old Blood is a much more sensible use of stating wizarding families that has been around for more than 500 years, and much less snobbish as well. Are you not an Old Blood?" Zoe asked as she reached for a book of offensive spells.

She was going to need those according to Regulus. He even offered to teach her how to take out an opponent. She had scoffed at him when he offered because she didn't depend on her wand that much. Her muggle fighting style would suit her when things get worse.

"No. I'm a muggleborn." She said as she shuffled her feet back and forth nervously.

Zoe felt excited and smiled brightly at the girl. Magic must've blessed her family.

"Ah! So you are New Blood?" Zoe said excitedly.

"New Blood?" She asked.

"You don't know what that means? It means that you are a new generation witch in many many generations. Most New Bloods are descended from families whose magics has died out many generations or centuries ago. Of course, muggle born in more easier to say, but in all honesty, I prefer calling you New Blood. Are you not taught that?" Zoe asked.

The bushy haired girl shook her head.

"No. I thought that Muggleborns are just that. Born from muggles, just normal people." She said as her brown eyes glittered with curiosity.

"Oh! How exciting! I am also a New Blood though my family! You see, back in the 1700s my family somehow started to produce squibs which was a tragedy. And so, we lived with the fact of not having magic, but still exposed to the magical world on a regular basis, even it its just manual labor and work. " Zoe smiled at her.

Zoe could tell that the girl was taken aback by her praise and didn't know how to respond to that.

"Wow, thanks...I've always been called a mudblood by others, but you don't seem to be as prejudiced as they are." She said to her.

Zoe's smile froze on her face and then she frowned deeply.

"_Che modo disgraziato per parlare un'altra strega._" She muttered to herself.

"Well then, you are not a...I'm not going to say such a _sporco_ word. You will never say it again in my presence. _Capisci_?" Zoe gave a stern glare at the young witch.

Hermione nodded furiously, cowed a little by the glare of the Pure-blooded woman. She barely met this woman and she must be a very influential in some circles.

"Yes'm." She squeaked.

Zoe patted the girl on her shoulders. Keeping up the facade of a polite Old Blooded woman who gives respect to others. If there was one thing that she was ever glad for was her social lessons with her grandmother.

"Good. Now how about you and I pay for these books. Do you know a place where we could eat? I would love to continue a conversation with a bright witch like yourself." Zoe said smiling.

Hermione smiled and nodded wildly. She had many questions for this woman. She wanted to know more about how she researches magic and she wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to ask questions.

* * *

><p>Over at the Steaming Kitchen, Zoe and Hermione were at a table just outside the small restaurant. They had just ordered food and Zoe insisted to pay for the food. Hermione wouldn't have it.<p>

"I can pay for it myself. I'm not a charity case." Hermione scowled.

"Deal with it, dearie. I rarely spend money on myself. Plus, young witches like yourself should save up money, _Piccola_." Zoe said as she took a drink of her lotus blossom tea.

Hermione couldn't understand why a woman of a social standing in the high circles would eat lunch with her. But she gave up fighting and accepted the fact that the older woman would pay for the meal.

"So, You said that you are a Researcher back at the store. You translate old tomes?" Hermione asked.

"I research many a different things. From old spell books, to ancient tomes that has been in old families for generations, to Ancient magics itself. Of course, I also study the lesser known magics. I also have a team to create new spells that would further the progression of wizarding culture. Last I check with my team, we were trying to make magic work around electronics. _Elettricità e Magic non si mescolano_." Zoe spoke smiling.

Hermione was awestruck by a woman who was clearly not much older that maybe 25, and was so smart she wanted to pick at her brain. She had found a woman who she would now consider her idol.

"Wow...I though I've read books that deal a lot with the culture here. I didn't realized that there was more to it." Hermione said as she popped an orange slice into her mouth.

"You can't live your life with your nose stuck in a book. I was like that when I went to school. I had a teacher tell me that if I could read that much, apply ALL of the theories that I have accumulated from those books into my magic. Surprisingly, my teacher was very pleased at the end when I have searched for the older spells and translating them was a breeze." She said smiling at the memory.

"Wow..." Hermione said in awe.

"What is your job description?" She asked.

Zoe knew that the girl was bright. Especially for a New Blood. She had always admired those who are 'muggle borns'. Technically, muggleborns were born from Old Blood families who couldn't produce children with magic anymore, and thus, became squibs. Magic wasn't a thing. It is a sentient being. It bestows upon itself to give magic back to those who are worthy to wield it again and thus, create New Bloods. At least that was what her grandmother had told her. As for the question the girl asked her. She decided to go a bit close to the truth without revealing her position.

"I guess you could say that I'm similar to an archeologist. Except that I search for old books, scrolls, tomes, and grimoires. I would then translate them to find out what they were used for." She smiled.

"Does that mean..." She bent forward as if she was sharing a terrible secret.

"You also translate stuff from the Dark Arts as well?" She asked worriedly.

"Well I wouldn't call them dark arts. They are just spells that require magic in them. Magic is neither dark or light. It's how you use them. Similar to a muggle gun. It's how you use it. You can use it to wound, kill, or protect. Most of the spells I search for are protection spells. It's so interesting to see how they work." Zoe said as she took out a pocket watch and opened it up.

It was 1:35. She was supposed to meet with Regulus in Knockturn Alley at 2:00. She sighed and wished she had more time with the young bright girl. Very rarely does she come across New Bloods who are bright. Mostly they would be so out of touch with the magical world that they would just return to the muggle world and leave it behind. This young witch was taking magic like a duck to water.

"I guess if you put it that way. What classes do you recommend to be a researcher?" Hermione asked.

"Oh? You want to be a researcher?" Zoe asked.

"Well i'm still trying to figure out what to do after Hogwarts. Maybe a curse breaker, maybe a auror, or maybe a Lawyer." She said as she pressed an index finger to her chin.

"_Hogwarts? Ah, she goes to Hogwarts. This will be interesting. But that subject will have to be for a later day._" Zoe thought.

"Have you thought about going to a Magical Collage? Not long after I graduated from my magical school, I went to The Salem Institute in America to continue my education there and then finished up when I transferred to Hiroshima University of Magical Research." She smiled.

Hermione looked as if someone just introduced the worlds rarest gem to her and her eyes sparkled with absolute rapture. Zoe also noticed that her hair was starting to frizz up with magic.

"Continuing education? I can do that?" She smiled brightly.

"Well of course!" Zoe said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I never knew that! I never even thought to continue it... I just thought once I pass my NEWTS I would be looking for a job in the Ministry somewhere." She said to her.

"Ah, _Piccola_. It's optional if you want to go to a Magical Collage. You would get more recommendations more inner workings of a job you are looking for and a little more in-depth of magics. But it seems to me that you want to open the secrets of the magical world." Zoe smiled at the girl.

She looked as if she was torn.

"Well, I'll just have to think on it. That's bloody amazing." She said as she pondered what Zoe said.

Zoe nodded and stood up, placing the 45 galleons onto the table for the food.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Granger." Zoe said as she took out her wand and summoned a parchment and quill.

She put away her wand and too the hovering quill and parchment, writing on it, one of her many addresses. But she put her address for 777 Olympian Way. Her little cottage would automatically accept the owl post and Cheza would pop it over to her.

"If you would like keep in touch, just contact me at this address. I won't be in the UK long. But if you have any questions, I can answer them." Zoe smiled and she gave the parchment to the young witch.

Hermione got up and bounced in place.

"Thank you. I wish you didn't have to leave so soon though. I have a lot of questions. Especially about New Bloods. I'll have to research my family tree and see what pops up. If what New Blood is what I think it might be, you know Squibs producing magic children..." She said as she took the parchment paper and went into heavy thought.

"You remind me of myself when I was your age. Ever wanting to understand the magic behind all magics. _So che il sentirsi bene._" Zoe said as she looked at her watch.

"I must take my leave. Now, Hermione Granger, I hope to run into you in the future. Remember, apply your studies to your spell work. It just may...help you in the future." Zoe said as she turned away.

"Goodbye!" Hermione said before Zoe slipped into the crowd.

Hermione tried to keep a look out for the woman in blue, but somehow she had disappeared. Hermione's curiosity got the better of her and took off into the crowd looking for her. After 15 minutes of searching, she gave up and decided to go and meet up with Fred, George, and Ron over at the Leaky Cauldron. She looked at the parchment with the woman's address and vowed to write the woman as much as she can...without annoying her to death of course. She won't let her education stop after Hogwarts and she wants to find out more about her family. She wanted to be the brightest and best witch of her age. Nothing was going to stop her.

* * *

><p>Sirius and Molly Weasley were both scowling at each other. There was a small pile of books on the table that was dubbed 'dark and dangerous' by Molly and she wanted to be rid of them and burn them. Sirius on the other hand had a chance to look at the books and wanted to keep them and perhaps read them over. If they were bad books he would get rid of them. If they were useful, he would keep them. Molly had other plans.<p>

"Now listen here Sirius Black, Those books have no place here anymore. If we are to have the Order here we must make it so that it is more bearable. Starting with these books." She persisted.

"No, you will not." Sirius said as he stood to his full height.

Sirius may be on the light side, but there was no reason to get rid of the books that are in the Library. Hell, most of those books might even be helpful. He knew that Molly probably has thrown away at least a quarter of the books (by Kreacher's doing, he wouldn't put it past the elf to put them in a safe house of some kind, which is likely), but she had no right to. She had absolutely no right to toss things out that was part of his family.

Sure, he hated his bitch of a mother who was a blood purist to the tenth degree, his father was a bit weak willed with it came to trying to control her, but at least he had some sort of sense to raise him right in a way. Regulus...Regulus died a death eater and died too young. He was from a screwed up family that was for sure, but this was his home now. At first, he didn't want anything to do with this place and considered burning it to the ground, but something told him inside that it was still home. It was still home to him. He didn't know why for the life of him, but he is sure as hell not letting anything else happen to this house unless it's cleaning the dust from everywhere and getting rid of the doxy infestation...which should've been Kreacher's job in the first place.

"You haven't even cleared with me that you were getting rid of books. Those books might help us if we get hit by an unknown spell or not." Sirius said.

Molly's face turn red at the implication.

"Those books are dark! What of one of the children were to get into those? We can't have that sort around here!" She scolded him.

"I'll put up a charm that will distract them away from those kinds of books." Sirius said as he waved a hand at her.

_"Merlin knows that I know enough hiding spells."_ He thought to himself.

"What if that doesn't work?" She crossed her arms.

"Of course it will work! I'm not an invalid at spells, Molly." Sirius growled.

He was really itching to get Molly out of his house for now. He doesn't like that fact that she was trying to lord over him. Blacks do NOT back down. His mother was right about one thing.

"We might as well be rid of them anyways. No use for this sort of magics. No use at all!" Molly said as she reached for the books.

Sirius felt something rise up in him and in two strides, he was at the table and blocked her way from even touching the books. Molly looked up at him in shock. As if she hadn't expected him to stop her.

"You will not touch these books or anything else in this house." Sirius said as he eyes glowed a dim silver color.

"You may clean as much as you want. But you will not touch any artifacts, any books, anything that looks even remotely dark, clear it with me first." Sirius said darkly.

Sirius honestly didn't know what possessed him to speak that way to Molly Weasley, but in hindsight, he was getting really tired of having to search for books that dealt with his family magics. Either they have been burned or tossed out. He didn't like that at all. In all honestly, he has been getting a bit more protective of the house he has grown up in, even if he had left it when he was 16, even if he had bad memories of this place. It was still home. He wanted to do with it when ever he pleased. Maybe he just might get rid of that damned troll leg that was out in the hall.

"I say! How dare you speak to me this way!" Molly screeched as she turned on her heel and grabbed the floo powder and shouted, "The Burrow" and left the house.

Sirius was shaking with fury. Who was she to dictate what he does with his house? It not like those things would kill anyone (maybe a few dark books with biting spell on them, and a couple that would suck your soul into a book without a certain password, but they would be locked in a cabinet that was up in his father's office.). A wave of relief went through his body as the redheaded woman left the house.

He looked at the pile of books and thought, _'Bugger it.'. _

He had nothing else to do. He picked up one of the books, and it was titled, _"Magiks of the Moste Ancient and Moste Noble Houses."_

Another book was titled, _"Darke Magiks fore the Immortal Soul."_

He recognized these books. He was bored when he came home for Christmas his first year of Hogwarts and he went into the library to read whatever popped out at him. He didn't really read them at the time, he just did so to appease his mother from smacking him around if he didn't behave. He placed both thick books under his arm, went over to the couch, plopped down and cracked open the old books. He opened the book about the magics of the ancient and noble houses. Maybe this book might explain the phenomena about the tapestry. He looked up and noticed that the tapestry was now glowing a sickly pale yellow color. It was blue just a few days ago, but not now. He wondered what is affecting it.

"Kreacher!" he called.

A pop sounded.

"Master Blood Traitor call for Kreacher?" the house elf sneered.

Sirius glared at him.

"I want you you get a few books of the Family Tapestry. If you do do that, I won't kick you from here to the next room." Sirius gritted his teeth.

Kreacher gave him a mocking smile.

"Very well, Master Blood Traitor." Kreacher said with malice and popped away.

Sirius rubbed his temple before delving into the book. Hoping that he would solve the mystery of his family tapestry's strange magic.

* * *

><p>Regulus was in Knockturn Alley. He had his Rex Whitestone glamour on, waiting patently for Zoe to pop up. It was already two o' clock and he thought that she might've ran into trouble. Until a shadow caught in the corner of his eye. Zoe was also under a glamor charm. And she had a cloak on her. She pulled the head of the cloak down and smiled.<p>

"Sorry for taking so long. I was caught up in a conversation with a bright young witch. She goes to Hogwarts." She said as she walked up to him.

"Is that so? Care to give me a name?" Regulus asked.

"Hermione Granger. I do believe that she is a New Blood. If I recall correctly, the Grangers have been squibs since the 1600s, not long after they married into the Yaxon line. Oh, that is so exciting! Perhaps the girl might be bringing back her family magic." She said as she did a small jig in place.

"Oh? Why is that exciting?" He asked.

"This just proves my theory that muggles could be a possibility of a descendant from squibs. I'll have to write my boss about it. Maybe he would let me test the theories on some muggleborns and see if they are indeed New Bloods or the very first of their families to have magic." She said as the glamour on her eyes failed for a second, showing her amethyst eyes before shifting back to blue.

"You are going to have to educate me on that. But for now, we need to get a few things." Regulus said as he guided her down the alley.

They passed hags and crooks that were trying to grab at them, but both of them put on ice cold glares at them to keep them away.

They came across a small shop that was labeled, _"Tails and Tongues"_. Those who may pass the place would be put off by the name, but Regulus entered the dirty shop with Zoe on his heels. The inside has plenty of items. Some dark, some light, illegal potions ingredients, relics that may have been lost to time, and many other things. Regulus noted that Zoe's eyes were darting around the dilapidated shop as if she was searching for something. It was captivating as her glamoured blue eyes started to fade back to their amethyst color as her face twitched into a small smile. It suddenly snapped back to blue as her eyes locked onto his glamoured brown.

"Sorry, I got distracted." She said as she stepped back from him, moving her head to the farthest shelf on the wall on the right side.

"I couldn't tell." Regulus said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Blimey! What 'ave we 'ere? A Lord an' lady in me little 'umble shop? Be careful around 'ere, yew may never know what might jump out. Nuff said, yeah?" An old woman with a cockney accent came out.

She was an ugly old hag. She had a rather droopy face with a few warts sprouting here and there and yellowed teeth and some may have been rotted and missing. Her left eye was blind and the other was red, irritated, and black. She was wearing grey scraps of fabrics sewed rather haphazardly on her thin frame. Her back was hunched over and her hands were like claws.

"We are here for a few...simple things." Regulus said as he looked at the hag in the eyes.

The hag smiled crookedly.

"Well, yew are in da right place! What do yew need, governor? A fertili'y poshun fer da miss? Or perhaps I can in'erest yew in somethin' else?" She smiled at the young lord.

Zoe made her appearance.

"We are here for some...special weapons. Right, my dear?" Zoe said with half-lidded eyes.

Regulus caught on to the act.

"Yes. Do you have any weapons of the sort? Some that will not be traced back to us?" He asked smoothly.

"Weapons? What for? Not what I'm complaining, good fer me little shop. I 'ave 'eard some rumors of an uprisin' in da dark. Have yew somethin' ter do wiv that, young lord?" The shorter woman leered at him.

"Now that would be telling. Goblin-made short swords and knives would be preferred. Can they be untainted?" Regulus asked.

"Untain'ed? I fink I might be able ter supply that. Are yew sure yew don't wan' anythin' cursed? I'm sure yew 'ave enemies what yew wan' taken care of? I 'ave a lovely poison what can leave da drinker gaspin' fer air. Like drownin' in water. Big wiv some of me customers." The hag was bartering.

Regulus took out a small black velvet bag and placed it onto the dirty counter.

"1000 galleons for your silence and your cooperation." Regulus said coldly.

The hag greedily grabbed the bag and poured some galleons onto her clawed hand. She grinned a toothy grin and plopped them back into the bag and placed it into her oversized sleeves.

"I might 'ave summit in the bloody hammer and tack. ya might find summit worthwhile there. As for untain'ed items, ya might 'ave a 'ard nickle and dime lookin' for sum there." The hag said as she waved a clawed hand to take them to the back.

Regulus and Zoe followed the hag to the back of the shop. The hag closed the back door and crossed the cluttered room to another wall. She waved her hand near a shelf and a lever popped out. She pulled the lever and the false wall that was so cleverly hidden disappeared. She waved her hand again and torches lined the walls of the rather large room. Regulus and Zoe could see the gleaming metals of weapons in the room.

"Take your nickle and dime, but not too much. I 'ave ovver customers. If ya find summit ya loike, we could 'aggle a bit of a price, ovver than that, enjoy your search." The hag cackled and left the witch and wizard to the room.

"What are we looking for? That was almost too easy to get through too." She muttered.

"Money talks, Lady Grey. Money talks." Regulus said as he skimmed over some swords and ritual knives.

Zoe stayed close to the middle of the room, hugging herself as she glared at some objects.

"You look like you are going to murder something." He said as he looked her over.

Zoe was tense and she looked like she was ready to spring.

"You can't feel it?" She asked as she walked forward.

"Feel what?"

"I know I said that magic can't be light or dark, and it is all about the intent, but in this case, I can feel dirty magic. Rituals that has been long gone in the past, blood wrongfully spilled to raise what ever hell they wanted to raise, and a lot more." She shuddered.

"You must be more sensitive to magics than I thought you would be." He said as he spotted a rather plain purple hilted knife with dried blood on it.

"Don't touch that one. Unless you want the blood of infants on you." She cringed.

Regulus was definitely glad that he brought her along.

"Then how about you search for the sword and knife we need. We need to be prepared for any attack. I'd go to Steelclaw to get some weapons from them, but the Ministry has a law about goblin made weapons. You have to register them." Regulus scowled slightly about the Ministry.

Zoe walked around a little, cringing as she passed a few weapons that obviously made the woman sick. Until she came across a rather large sword.

"Ooooh. The _Spada Lunga_." She said as she came near it.

Regulus stood by her as she looked it over. the steel looked sharp and deadly. The hilt has a twisting vines on it and in the middle of the hilt was a white moonstone.

"A rather heavy sword. Similar to the Bastard Sword, but this sword has a bit more wider range of you want to really spill blood on the battlefield. I have someone in my group that uses these kinds of swords. I should let him know about it." She said as she reached out to the hilt, only to stop and she scowled at it.

"Never mind." she muttered as she looked around again.

There were a few things that interested Regulus, but even he could tell that most of the weapons were either monitored, cursed, or had something dark happen to them.

"Well, here's a nice looking blade." He heard Zoe call out.

He went over to her position and noticed that she was staring at a stiletto blade. The thin blade was about the size of his forearm, and the hilt has small ruby red stones in the middle. the rest of the hilt was wrapped in red leather.

Zoe reached out and picked it up and stepped away from Regulus and flipped it around and slashed at an invisible enemy. She even twirled around and slashed a few more times.

"I thought you can't do Offensive fights?" Regulus asked.

"Offensive _spells_. My spell work for Offensive dueling and spell work is not my strength, Defensive on the other hand, I could shoot back a deadly spell right back at them with a shield spell. Now, Muggle fighting, sword and knife dueling, those are my strengths. Catch a wizard or a witch off guard and without their wand they are helpless as a baby kitten. Easier to kill off too." She said as she flipped it around, catching the weapon by the blade and then the handle.

"I think I'll get this one." She said as she wandlessly summoned a sheath for it. She placed it into the sheath and wrapped it around her forearm.

"I thought we were going to get something for me?" Regulus sniffed as he lifted his nose in the air.

"Please, I'll need one as well. Plus this won't do for you." She said as she looked around.

Regulus continued his search and he was increasingly getting frustrated by the amount of weapons he looked over. He then decided to use his magic to see if there was a weapon that he could be pulled to.

"Can you see it now?" Zoe asked as he opened his eyes and looked at her.

He noticed that there was a light grey aura around her, striped with blue and black.

"I'll take that as a yes. The Blacks have always had aura sight. They just never used it much." She shrugged.

"Now go and look for that sword you want." She said as she looked around again, muttering something about how one sword was used for killing a dragon.

Regulus lightly shook his head making a note to himself a to read up on aura sight before focusing to find a short sword that would be of use to him. After a few minutes observing some weapons on an opposite shelf, a glint caught his eye. He walked over to where it was coming from and spied a rather interesting looking sword. It was a black double edged sword with a silver hilt with green leather wrapping around it. At the Base of the hilt was a cut emerald in the shape of a teardrop. He reached for the sword and picked it up. It was a bit heavy, but like usual heavy swords, they require two hands to hold it. As he changed his stance and moved the sword around his hands more comfortably, he noticed a faint aura of silver and green surrounding it.

"Oooh. Now that's a nice looking one." Zoe said as she walked over and looked him over.

"Your stance is wrong, and you are holding it a bit too high. But we could rectify that. You never did explain why you need some weapons." Zoe said as he grabbed the sheath that was by the sword and placed it inside.

"Well, I have to make some sort of impression on the Hogwarts students. Although you are right, I need a bit of training with a few practice swords to get it right...you'll be helping me correct?" Regulus grinned at her rakishly.

Her face was blank, but he noticed a couple spots of pink on her cheeks.

"Very well, Lord Black. I can understand that." She said as she rocked from one foot to another.

"Also, with the DADA position in Hogwarts, I might as well teach the basics of defending oneself without a wand. And perhaps a small blade on hand wouldn't hurt as well." Regulus said as he lifted an arm to Zoe.

She took it and the two left the back room to the front of the dirty shop. The hag turned to them and smiles a wide nasty grin.

"Did ya find wot ya were lookin' for?" The hag said as she went to her register. Zoe placed her blade onto the desk and the hag frowned as looked up.

"Aw, I thought ya would get a cursed blade. Humph, that would be 75 Galleons." The hag sniffed.

Zoe placed the bag of 7s galleons onto the table. The hag snatched them up and counted them out. She placed the bag into her sleeves and looked at Regulus.

He took out the black sword and the hag looked up and snarled.

"You 're a cheat! That blade 'as not 'ad an owner in over a century! Who 're ya, young lord?" The hag glared at Regulus.

"I believe that is none of your business. I believe 100 Galleons would suffice." Regulus said coldly.

"Nay! You must be barmy if ya want it!" She growled.

"I gave you 1000 for your silence and cooperation, do you intend to back out on the deal?" Regulus hissed.

The hag froze and she tittered to herself.

"FINE! 400 galleons and ya leef this Drum! NEVER COME BACK!" She screeched and breathed heavily.

"Sounds like a deal." Regulus said as he counted them out and dropped them onto the counter.

Zoe and Regulus left the place quite quickly. Zoe was quite pleased with her stiletto blade and was using it to catch the sun. The shining silver also have off a slight hint of red.

"I wonder why she wasn't too reluctant to part with that sword...Oh well." she said as she placed it back into her sheath.

Regulus had hitched the sword to his hips and as they left the left the Alley, he turned to Zoe.

"I have a job for you, Lady Grey if you will accept it." He asked lowly so that no one could hear them.

"What would it be, my friend?" She asked as the glamour on her eyes flashed to her normal color before the blue popped up again.

"I need you to find Harry Potter." He asked.

"Harry Potter? The kid of this 'so-called' prophecy?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Find out where he lives and keep an eye out for him. I have a feeling that something might happen to him soon." He said as he took out a silver pocketwatch to look at the time.

"Well that would include me sneaking into the ministry to find out where he lives...or better, Gringotts." She said as she scrunched up her face to think.

"Gringotts would be the answer. Given the fact that my brother is the boy's Godfather, the address of where he lives should be on file." He said as he took out a bit of parchment and write down on it.

"So go to Gringotts and tell them that you are looking for Steelclaw. When you meet him, tell him Whitestone sent you to get some information pertaining to the Black Family. Can you handle that?" He asked as he lifted an eyebrow.

"Very well. How should I approach the boy? My normal self? Or a glamour?" She asked.

"Glamour. We need to stay 'under the radar', as muggles put it. Steelclaw will understand who you are and how you are affiliated with me." He said as he gave the parchment to her.

She sighed and shook her head.

"All right. So what do I do when I find this boy?" She asked.

Regulus frowned and closed his eyes. Given the fact that the boy participated in the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year, in all technicality, Potter should be emancipated, since the Tournament was for those who were at legal age. Since it has happened no one seemed to bring it up, most likely Dumbledore is making sure that doesn't happen at all. Not only that, from the articles that Rita Skeeter had printed (He knew her in School, he was on...neutral terms with her in Slytherin) there's always a truth hidden in lies. With the Diggory boy dead, and from what Potter claims that he saw Riddle rise from the dead in a graveyard, the boy must be scared mentally and emotionally.

"Get to know him. Have him trust you. We need to protect the boy for now. No child should be involved in manipulations 'For the Greater Good'. Can you teach him to just be a regular kid?" He asked her.

Regulus knew that the boy's hardships was only going to snowball from here on out. It will get out of control. It had to be stopped.

Zoe huffed before she nodded.

"My brother is around his age. It shouldn't be too hard to get along with the boy... Due to the fact that he is your brother's godson, he is in all rights an honorary Black. When should I start?" She asked.

"As soon as possible. Watch and protect him every other day until the Order of the Phoenix picks him up." He said as he was just about to turn and walk back to the Apartment.

"And what are you going to do?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

Regulus turned back to her and gave her a sly smile.

"I'm going to get ready to go to Hogwarts. I need to be prepared. I'll see you before the day ends, Lady Argento." He said as he stepped into the busy street of Diagon Alley.

Zoe just smiled and said, "That man is going to turn the Magical World on it's head with my help." She smirked.

She then blended into the crowd on her way to Gringotts and in the bustle of the crowd, she chuckled.

"Well, this is going to be fun."

* * *

><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Sweet, we are almost into the book now. Regulus will be going to Hogwarts a few weeks before the school actually starts in the next chapter and Zoe will be taking on another glamour charm to watch out for Harry. What image do you think she will take? Poor Sirius, he has no clue whats wrong with him. It's all because of the tapestry. What's up with that? Doe sit have anything to do with Regulus being back from the dead or what? But his skull is still there! We star Harry in the next chapter and he will get to meet Zoe. Let's get going! :D _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They are addicting to me and it helps with ideas for the story! _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**GabbiGrl: **_Yes I will leave you hanging. XD It's an authors job to leave you hanging!

_**doomforzombies16: **_It's not easy coming up with lore for other magics and wands. Trust me, either i pick up the ideas from other stories, or i try to make things just a little more logical. As for the lesser known magics, like spirit magics, i picked up from that from certain types of magical anime. But i branched it out a bit more to make it more believable. As for the other lore…i make it up as i go along but still put some sort of logic that will tie it in with the _**Harry Potter **_world.

_**Annie: **_You've been hit by, you been struck by, the Smooth Criminal! (I had to do that). Anyways, yeah, i noticed some grammatical errors and trust me, i'm starting to get rusty with those and i need to read some books about fixing grammar. Given the fact that pages on iCloud doesn't have spell check and grammar check, i get a little pissed off at that. But thanks for pointing those out for me! :D

_**FreeRunner4427: **_Yeah, I've read a few Regulus stories that has a bit of a formula going on, time travel, Sirius helping him out as a spy, Regulus coming back from the dead, etc. I wanted to put a spin onto it and make it a bit more different. I wanted to make Regulus wan the redemption he needs. Plus, He does care about Pure blood traditions, and he doesn't mind integrating the muggle borns into the magical world, but they can't progress if muggle borns won't learn of the Wizarding culture. I'm having a bit of fun about muggle-borns being of 'Old-Blood' descent. Because let's face it, the magic has to come from somewhere right? And Yes, Delores is going to be in here…but Regulus will not back down from her. Trust me, He will be doing loopholes all around her. It's going to be fun. As for Sirius in the Department of Mysteries? You'll find out. Just not for a while. As for Zoe? Well, That's for me to know and you to find out. I'll give you a hint though: The Blacks, The Greys, and The Whites were known for different styles and types of magics. The question is: What types/styles of magic did they use? Not only that, Since the Black Family is Ancient and Noble, I would say that they're an equivalent of Royalty. Chew on that for a while. :)

_**TAL21: **_That's it for the _**shout outs! **_Now of you will excuse me, I'm off to read the **_Order of the Phoenix _**again (For the third time) to get a nice feel to get the story to continue. But I will have fun writing the next chapter! It's freaking Harry for crying out loud! Also, FanXperience in January. Tom Felton is going to be there. SQUEEEE! I can't wait to meet him! It's going to be awesome! :D See you guys in the next chapter! Love you lots! :D

_**Question Time: **_What are you hoping for in the next chapter? Also, What has drawn you to this story? Why? Is it because it follows a different formula than other stories? Or is it something else? What questions do you have for this story?

**_KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D_**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Black as the Blood In Our Names**_

by TimeAndLife21

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><p>Harry Potter was in the park on a bench. It was the middle of summer and he was granted, a very rare treat, for him to be kicked out of the Dursley house for Dudley's birthday. Not that Harry cared for it. But at least it gave him the day to himself. He had on scruffy looking clothes. At least it wasn't his cousin's hand me downs. He honestly wished that the summer would pass by a bit more faster too.<p>

He looked around and saw families playing around the toys and the sand box. He just observed them. Since school had ended, he had nightmares of the final trial. The moment he had grabbed that trophy with Cedric, the green streak of light that killed him, his blood being used to bring back Voldemort, it was all a nightmare and he just couldn't wake up from. He closed his eyes to keep away the memories but they keep coming hard.

He could feel the breeze on him before he heard, "You must be Harry Potter. Took me a while to find you." He heard a female voice with a light scottish accent.

His eyes snapped open and in front of him was a woman. He sat up and leaned back away from her. He was about to speak but he couldn't. The woman had wavy hair of a blazing red fire and her eyes were jade colored. She was wearing blue jeans, trainers, a white t-shirt with a raven on it, a plain silver necklace and a dark red leather jacket. She was looking at him as if she has seen an interesting specimen.

"Who are you?" He said quietly.

Why was there a woman in front of him? Why did she notice him when so many others didn't? The other part of him was telling him that she looked just like his mother. But his mother was dead.

"Enid Llwyd." She said as she decided to plop next to him.

Harry just turned and looked at the woman who sat next to him. She was looking out at the families that were playing and she had a light smile on her face.

"How do you know me? How did you find me?" He asked.

The red haired woman turned to him and locked eyes with him. She smiled at him.

"It was simple enough. A tracking spell, scrying and a simple map, showed me where you are. As for how do I know you? I keep my eyes and ears open." She said as she smiled brightly at him.

Tracking? The woman tracked him down? If it was that easy...He started to panic a little. What if she was a Death Eater? What if she was here to take him away? Constant Vigilance was Moody's saying and he was wishing he was just as paranoid as the older man. The woman gently placed a hand on his shoulder and he flinched back at the touch.

"Don't worry, I'm not taking you anywhere, lad. I'm just here to make sure you are okay. You are okay, right?" She said soothingly.

Harry looked up at her and he relaxed. Why was he so worried? This woman clearly meant no harm.

Right?

"Why do you care?" He glared at her slightly.

She chuckled and shook her head.

"Well, You have obviously suffered quite a bit in that tournament. I can tell. But you also suffered a bit in your life. Mundane relatives that hate you, friends that haven't written you since the summer started...am I getting warm?" She asked cocking an eyebrow.

Harry looked down at his fists that are clenched.

"Hey, It's okay to be mad. In fact, you deserve to be mad. Seriously lad, If I went through the Tri-Wizard Tournament like that, Hell, I'd be demanding compensation on my physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare." She said as she took out a bag of apples.

She took one out and handled it over to him. He took it and looked up at her in confusion. Who was this woman? But he felt compelled to trust her. Granted...she looked like his mother, somehow, but she was just a random stranger. He rolled around the bright red and yellow apple in his hands before realizing that he hasn't eaten anything today. He took a bite out of it and the sweet and tart taste bursted into his mouth.

After a few minute munching on apples, the woman spoke up again.

"I was sent here by someone who is looking out for you. He's sorry that he can't meet you in person, but he has a lot of things on his hands right now." She said as she finished up her apple and tossed the core away in a trash can near them.

She took out another apple and munched on it.

"Was it Dumbledore who sent you?" He asked.

The woman chuckled bitterly.

"Oh Hell no, I don't trust the old man as far as I can throw him. But to you, has Dumbledore contacted you at all? What about your friends?" She asked.

Harry was a bit put off by the woman's attitude about Dumbledore. But now that he had thought about it, he has been sending Hermione and Ron letters and asking them how there summer went. They only replied back with that they can't tell much. They wouldn't even give him a place of where they were at or what they are doing. He could feel the anger rise up again, only to be smothered out.

"They'll write back. Maybe even ring me if they have the time." Harry lied to himself.

The woman was silent as she chewed on a piece of apple. She was looking at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"You know...for a fifteen year old I thought you would be a bit more rebellious then that. Then again, I see the problem." She said as she noticed that harry finished up his apple.

She took out another one and handed it over to him. He tossed away the core and dug into it, realizing that he was still hungry.

"What problem?" Harry said after swallowing up the piece of apple.

"The problem of my fame? The problem that I was pushed to see Voldemort rise again? The fact that I could have saved the trouble if I died when it should have been Cedric that should still be alive?" His throat started to close up and his eyes burned.

"Are you tired of feeling weak, Harry?" Enid spoke to him gently.

He turned to her and he felt the tears run out of his eyes. Weak? Did he feel weak? Yes. He was weak when Wormtail managed to stun him and use him as a live sacrifice bringing Voldemort back from limbo. He was lucky that luck was on his side when he got out of there alive. Luck. He hated luck. His luck was his bane.

"I'm sick of it." He said tiredly.

"Well, you need some help if you want to get stronger. Maybe read those books of yours and bring them here if you need more studying and a bit of practical work as well. Just wandlessly." She smiled at him.

He looked up at her sharply. The tears now gone from his eyes and he narrowed them.

"Why do you care? And If it wasn't Dumbledore who sent you, who did?" He asked.

The woman smiled and placed an index finger to her lips.

"That's a secret I won't tell. You'll meet him in the near future though. So what do you say? You want to rise above the norm of being an average kid with murderers on your tail, or do you want to be able to protect those who are closest to you?" She asked.

Harry thought about it for a few moments.

"I'm in."

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><p>It was interesting working with Enid. Harry had thought that one day. He managed to get all the chores done before 9 in the morning at the Dursley Household. He wanted to be able to meet up with her at 11 o' clock every other day at the park. They would be sitting at a stone table with chess pieces and would play it. Enid would win often, but Harry was slowly getting up there to take her on without fumbling. She would also test his mind about certain spells and how they work when used. She also made him apply different spells, in different ways and languages. Although speaking a different language means that he would have to use a different spell function. Unfortunately, he didn't have the kind of books he needed for translations. She would also make him do cross word puzzles, word finds, and sudokus after their little lessons.<p>

Harry was in awe of how the woman was helping him. Not even the professors at Hogwarts (at least some of them) wouldn't go into depth about it. When he told Enid, she had replied,

"Last I checked, self study was one of the best ways to teach yourself. Hogwarts is one of those schools who don't really go into depth about certain subjects unless you really want to learn them." She spoke.

This made Harry think of the subjects he took in the past years. He didn't take Arithmancy or Runes because of Ron. And add into the fact that some subjects, Care for Magical Creatures and Divination were easy O's, he didn't care much for them. When he told Enid she gave him a look of disappointment. Something that he didn't really understand. Although when he was under her gaze of disappointment, he too felt disappointed in himself. He would have to change that.

"Divination is a crock class. Sure you might be able to predict some things, but most classes like that will only turn on you. Let me tell you something, Only true seers can take on apprentices that have the sight. And the Sight is a rare trait. You're better off taking a class that will help you in the long run." She said to him.

Harry thought about it on one of the days he didn't meet up with her. She had asked him once why he didn't take the more challenging courses at Hogwarts. He didn't come up with an answers right away, but he did think about it as he was dusting the house. Why didn't he take the more challenging courses?

It brought him back to when he was younger when he had to play stupid when he went to primary school and Dudley had to look good. He loved learning when he was young, but in order to not face Vernon and Petunia's wrath, he had to squander that need for knowledge. Since this woman came along, he could feel his mind shake off the shackles and the need for learning emerged.

As the days went by, he still wrote to his friends, but the disappointment was there when they said,

_"We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously..."_

_"We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray..."_

_"We're quite busy but I can't give you details..."_

_"Keep your nose clean..."_

Excuses. There were too many excuses that they wrote to him. He gave up and stopped writing them if they were so insistent about it. Other than that, he was actually enjoying reading the books that he got. Enid also gave him some books for him to read and he always read them after he finished up his chores. Arithmency, Runes, Occlumency (which interested him greatly) and a few other subjects. She even gave him a book about the Dark Arts. When he asked her why, she told him:

_"Just because it's a book about the Dark Arts, doesn't mean that the subject itself is dark. Just give it a read and tell me what you think of it."_

He didn't let his aversion of the Dark Arts bother him as he read through the book. As he read through it, he didn't realize that what he is doing, was changing the future itself. Whether it was good or bad isn't the problem. How it will end...well things were changing for the Boy Who Lived.

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><p>Zoe was glad to be working with the boy. Granted, because of the Ministry trace on him, she couldn't have him use his wand for fear of being sent a letter from the Ministry for using underage magic. But Regulus told her that since The Tri-Wizard Tournament, the boy should have been emancipated. He participated like an adult, he would be made an adult, according to British Laws. Sadly, that didn't lift the trace off of him. So wandless magic was the only way to go. It was the only thing that the ministry doesn't have a trace on. Just the wands themselves. Although she made sure he didn't actually perform the magic in front of the mundane people. Just the wrist work and the pronunciations. The boy had a lot on his shoulders. He shouldn't have it. Whatever this prophecy is, she would punch whoever believes in it. She watched as he was reading a chapter about the Dark Arts so that she could quiz him about it later.<p>

He reminded her of her younger brother. Atlas. He was currently going to the American school in Salem. Salem's Institute for Witches and Wizards. Atlas was similar in personality to Harry. Save for the fact that Harry thoroughly preferred reading books as much as he can in his spare time rather than playing Quidditch or Football. Speaking of her younger brother, she would have to write him soon. It's been a while since she did that.

"Enid." Harry asked.

She shook herself out of her revere and looked at the boy. If she could figure out a way to get the boy to Gringott's without any trouble, she could ask the goblins to lift the trace off of him. Unfortunately, the boy is being watched. She knew this. She would feel certain magical signatures of some kind about 20-30 feet away. Because of this she would often put up a wandless ward to keep them from hearing things that they shouldn't be able to hear.

"What is it, Harry?" She asked.

She knew that the boy was opening up to her. She was glad that he was being more happier than morose due to his past. But he's improving.

"I was wondering...what do you know of rituals?" He asked her.

Ah, she was wondering when the boy would ask about that. Given what had happened to him at the third trial, she was wondering when he would be talking about it. The boy still believed it was his fault for Riddle to be back, but she was slowly making him not believe that it was his fault. She was trying to build him up to be stronger. It wasn't easy, but sometimes the road to strength will have many bumps. She was glad to know that he was being more happier in a way.

"Depends of what ritual you are talking about. Blood ritual? Nature Ritual? Necromancy? Blessed by fire and ice? Which one?" She asked.

She noticed that he was thinking about it and opened his mouth a few times before speaking.

"Something that would bring a wraith back to life. Using the bone of the father, flesh of the servant, and blood of the enemy forcibly taken." He said quietly.

Zoe swore that her heart stopped. She has heard of rituals like that. Although this kind of ritual was a dirty ritual. A bastardized version of trying to bring the dead back to life. It was possible to bring the dead back to life, but it would take the summoner's entire magical core to do so. Leaving the summoner a squib. However, the person that the summoner would bring back would only be a shell of their former selves. Magic doesn't like the dead being alive. Regulus's case was a completely different case all together. But the ritual Harry described was something similar. The old ritual was the Bone of the Father (It has to be the left 3rd rib bone, not just any bone), Flesh of the servant (a house elf's right hand.), and blood of the enemy forcibly taken.

"What went on?" She asked.

"Wormtail...I mean, Peter Pettigrew, used a bone, not sure which, and his right hand, and my blood." He said choppily.

"Hmm, depending on what he did, this wormtail may have botched the ritual. If Voldemort was to truly be back in his normal form..." She trailed off at the confused look on Harry's face.

"Okay. When Voldemort was 'killed', he was in his human form. Most likely he still looked human. What does he look like now?" She asked.

"White skin. He has red eyes and he doesn't have a nose. I think his teeth are sharp." He tried to describe Riddle.

Zoe felt like someone walked over her grave.

_"Shite. It was more then a botched ritual. Factor in the Horcruxes...This monster really doesn't like death."_ She thought shivering.

"Well, I'll have to look into this. Sounds like something that the Ancient Incas did." She muttered the last part.

"Are rituals dark, Enid?" He asked.

"Depends on what you do with the ritual. Most rituals require a sacrifice, mostly an animal sacrifice, blood, food, water, bones, plants and various other things. Its the body parts that you have to worry about." Zoe shivered.

"The body parts?" Harry asked.

"Rituals are not dark. Just like magic, you have to have intent. Good or bad. But there are things such as dirty magic. You follow a spell to a point when you want it, and then you decide that it's not good enough. You make up a new spell and it backfires on you. There is a reason that spellcrafters are far and few in between. It takes power, concentration, and runes to get it right." She said then waved her hand.

"I'm getting off track here. Body parts in a ritual is not unheard of, but it's more violent then the other ingredients. Living Flesh is always tricky when it comes to rituals. That is why we use blood. It's the most basic ingredient in a ritual. Unfortunately Britain doesn't use blood rituals anymore because it was called 'Dark." Zoe said as she explained it to him.

"Blood rituals...why are they important?" Harry asked.

Zoe's glamoured eyes lit up as she stood up and took out a pen knife. It was just an ordinary pen knife, nothing too special. She unfolded that knife and cut open her pinkie finger. She walked over to him and spoke, "Don't worry. It's a temporary thing."

She used her pinkie, and using his right arm as a canvas, drawn up a slightly stylized symbol, in Japanese kanji, for protection. Like she had told Regulus, Harry Potter was part of the Black family distantly and he fell under the category of ward for the Blacks. She, as Zoe Aphrodite Grey, under the orders of Regulus Arcturus Black, will protect the boy for as long as she can until she is retracted from her duty. For now, putting a protection ward on the boy would work.

_"Watashi wa ima, kono wakai kōkei-sha ni izon watashi no chi no hogo o sazukeru. Watashi wa mahō no megami no namae de kore o mippū suru."_ She spoke in Japanese.

She felt a slight pull on her magic as the blood glowed a little on his arm.

"What did you just say?" Harry asked her as he winced a little.

The protection mark on his arm singed a little before disappearing into his skin.

"That was just a simple blood ritual of protection. They come in many languages, writings, and styles. This was a temporary one. It will last you a week. Protects you from physical and magical harm." She said as she took out her ponytail and started to braid it.

Harry looked mesmerized by his arm that Zoe had put blood on it. Usually he's a bit squeamish about it, but it didn't bother him very much.

"So there are similar rituals? What about rituals for children?" he asked.

"Ah, Those kinds of rituals. When a witch is pregnant with child, her magic decreases and the magic that she has goes to the child that is growing in the womb instead. Now, there is an old ritual that hasn't been used since the 1900s because it was considered barbaric, but pregnant woman would use unicorn blood, freely given, and bathe in it. This was so to protect the mother and child from attacks on the family. My mother did the same thing. Although it was in America at the time." Zoe said as she scrunched up her face.

"There was also a blood ritual that involved the placenta after the babe is born. The placenta was used to bind certain healing healing magics into the child so the child wouldn't have to deal with illnesses after birth. It's still common in Old Blood Families to do such rituals." Zoe then frowned at the expression Harry was giving her.

"That is disgusting." He deadpanned.

Zoe chuckled at his tone.

"Well, anyways, rituals are important because it furthers out progress as a society. I went to Diagon Alley not to long ago and I was thrown back into the victorian era." She shook her head.

Harry had to agree with her. Some clothing were just not that acceptable anymore.

"If you want to progress as a society, you must give up certain things. The spells, the potions, the magic can stay the same, but as a culture and society, you have to blend in with the mundanes." Zoe said as she looked up at the sky.

The sun was setting and she had to get back to Regulus for reporting on Harry. He also needed her to go with him to Hogwarts (as a Raven of course), and get used to the area. He was wanted in two days time to meet up with the Headmaster and staff of Hogwarts.

"There's a lot to magic that I don't understand." Harry said softly.

Zoe turned her head to the boy and her gaze softened.

"Even I'm still learning many things about magic. Here's a suggestion." She leaned closer to him so that only he can hear her.

"You can try to access your family magic." She said as she stood up and stretched.

"Family Magic?" Harry asked.

"It won't be easy. But accessing family magic will help with protection and it will also increase the power of your magical core." She said smirking.

The look in his eyes showed that he was very fascinated about this kind of magic. Wasn't Dumbledore supposed to talk to students about family magic? Her teachers in Japan told her that family magics were important to anyone in an Old Bloodline. Even to Half-bloods and New Bloods, for those who have magic in the family. Like Regulus's family is technically royalty due to their power of magic that they hold. Also the fact that their ancestor Polaris started to name his children after constellations and stars, believing that the heavens names would bless the Black Family with powerful magic. When she did her research on the Potters, she assumed that Harry had already inherited his Family Magic after his parents died. This was not the case.

"Can you teach me? How to access my magic core, I mean?" He asked.

Zoe smiled coyly.

"All I ask Mr. Potter, is that you be careful. Family Magic is a bit rough to access. Given the fact that it is your magical core that you have to access first." She warned.

"How can I do that?" Harry asked.

"What you do is that you go into a state of meditative calm. We've been working on your occlumency walls. It is the same basic concept. Clear your mind, fill it with static, and then feel around your senses for your magic. It'll take time, so when you are free from chores, use that time to find your core. When you find it, let me know." She said as the sun started to fully set.

"Now I won't be coming back for a while. Maybe a week at the most. As I'm gone, just go over what I have been teaching you." She said as she started walking in the direction of Number 4 Privet Drive.

Harry shut his book and followed quickly after.

"You will come back...right?" Harry asked as his green eyes locked with hers widely.

Zoe stopped and stared back at the emerald colored eyes. The color of the killing curse. She said that she would gain trust in him. And she would refuse to break that trust.

"I'll come back next Thursday at noon." She said as she took out a pocket watch with a raven in flight engraved onto it.

She pushed the knob to open it and looked at the time. She had to get back to the apartment and pack her bags to move to Hogsmeade. She was lucky to have made a small web of contacts and connections with a couple of Unspeakables and ministry workers in this short amount of time. There are time she loved being a hit witch. She put her watch away.

"But remember, don't draw attention to yourself." She said as she placed a hand on his head and ruffled it.

"Okay. Thank you Enid." Harry said as they approached Privet Drive.

"Take care Harry. I'll come back Thursday." She said as she turned away from him and spun on the spot, apparating away.

Harry stared at the spot where the woman once stood. She never failed to show up at their sessions.

He just hoped on the inside that she wouldn't forget him.

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><p>Regulus was just about finished packing with Kreacher. Zoe had left the Apartment yesterday to get to Hogsmeade for her apartment.<p>

_"I can't stay in my animangus form all the time. I have to return to Hogsmeade at least three times a week. I managed to tell the landlord that I'll be sticking around and looking for plants and other things in the Forbbident forest...care to tell me what to avoid there?"_

She had told him that she had already created an undercover persona when she goes to Hogsmeade. She would be going as that same woman who would be meeting up with Harry Potter. In his mind, there wasn't too much of a flaw. Not only that, She would keep an eye out on the boy while in raven form in Hogwarts and while in Hogsmeade, she can keep an eye on him amongst the people and students there. She mentioned something about another for she could take but she was twisted up in her mind to get everything taken care of.

Just thinking about the pale woman made him smiled a bit. She was a smart woman. Clever too. When she told him that she managed to get contacts in the ministry, he was floored. He recalled the memory just a few days before hand.

_She was wearing a dark red dress and her snow white hair was up in a complicated and messy bun. Her feet was bare. She was hunched over the table muttering to herself and writing things down._

_"Given the fact that some people in the Department of Mysteries..." She trailed off in greek._

_He had just returned getting some robes and clothes for working at Hogwarts. He also popped back to Diagon Alley to fetch 2 wand holsters with anti-summoning charms on it. It would be helpful in the future._

_"What about the Department of Mysteries?" He asked curious of why Zoe was speaking about it._

_Kreacher then cracked in and placed a hot pot of tea and a cup by her._

_"Mistress Grey need anything else?" Kreacher asked._

_"No Kreacher. That is all. Thank you." She said as she sat up and pushed back a bit of hair that escaped her bun._

_"The Department, Grey?" He asked again._

_"I managed to start my web of contacts. I have a couple of Unspeakables under my command as well as a few hidden ministry workers in the higher ups. They will be spreading out in the near future." She said as she smiled at him._

_His jaw dropped after his explanation. "Blacks don't gape like carps!" He recalled his mother's shrieking. He closed it._

_"You...How?" He stuttered out._

_This woman was seriously tilting his world over._

_"What else do you expect me to do? Go to Hogwarts half cocked and with only 12 percent of a plan?" She raised an eyebrow._

_Well...she wasn't wrong._

_"This is a chance for the HWA to get a bit of a foothold in Britain. You need allies and people who know how to work the system. You want to take out Riddle, you need people who have minds of their own and will rise up with you." She said as she cocked her head to the side and scribbled something down, before picking up her tea cup and drinking it._

_"Have you thought about bringing your Brother, your cousin, and her son in on the idea?" She asked._

_"No. Not at this point of time. I know Sirius is in hiding with the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not going to chance that. He has been in Azkaban for 13 years. He might be susceptible to the 'Madness' that runs through our family line. As for Cissy and Draco..." Regulus trailed off._

_"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, then. I've already packed up. You need to pack up too." She smiled as she returned to her book._

She just surprised him more and more. She didn't even flinch when he mentioned the Black Madness. If there was one thing that he is slightly afraid of, is delving into the madness. He hoped that would never happen to him.

He sighed and a crack filled the apartment.

"Master Regulus miss Mistress Grey already?" Kreacher croaked.

Regulus gave a small glare at his elf friend. His left eye twitching. Ever since he had Zoe come with him to Britain and having her meet Kreacher, the elf seems to have it in mind that he was courting her.

"Kreacher..." Regulus said exasperated.

"Kreacher just wants knowing when Master Regulus will properly court Mistress Grey." Kreacher said as he snapped his long fingers making the trucks fill up with whatever is left over of Regulus's clothes. The sword that he got a couple of weeks ago not he other hand was strapped to his left hip with a disillusion charm on it.

Regulus huffed and shook his head.

"I don't need to be 'courting' anyone right now, Kreacher...I don't know if you have noticed but..." Regulus said as calmly as he could then bursted out, "We are going up against Riddle! I do not have the time to be courting anyone!" He said frustrated.

Kreacher only gave him a blank look.

"Kreacher knows that. Kreacher believes that Master Regulus should focus on courting after Master Regulus destroys dirty half-blood Riddle." Kreacher replied.

If Regulus didn't know any better, he would say that Kreacher was trying to do some matchmaking. He shuddered at the thought. At least it wasn't his mother. He recalled being betrothed to a Liandra Nott. He shuddered again...then again, he would rather take Zoe than Liandra. She was a twisted woman in Slytherin.

"Enough Kreacher, No more talk about courting. I don't have the time for it anyways." Regulus said as he collected himself enough.

Kreacher didn't believe him but carried on anyways. He shrunk the trunks and Regulus picked them up and placed them in a secure pocket on his coat.

"I'll call you when I need you. Keep your ears and eyes open in the Order Headquarters." He said after picking up the last small trunk.

He then thought about his brother and sighed.

"Keep an eye out for Sirius okay? Tell me when he might be falling into the Madness." Regulus said tiredly.

Kreacher nodded his head.

"Kreacher will look out for Master Regulus's blood traitor brother." Kreacher muttered.

"Thank you Kreacher." He said as he dismissed Kreacher.

The house elf disappeared with a crack and Regulus left the posh hotel after putting on his Rex Whitestone glamour on and headed towards the nearest portkey station. It's been many years since he has last been to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts...he briefly wondered what this year might bring. It was bound to be interesting with Harry Potter around if the previous years were to show for it. He grinned.

_"Who knows, maybe I might be cut out for this Professor position after all."_ He thought before reaching the station.

After paying the Galleons needed to go to Hogsmeade, he was given a piece of leather and was told to wait five minutes. After the five minutes were up, he felt a tugging behind his navel and portkeyed away.

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><p><em><strong>TAL21: <strong>_Ah, it's a new year and I have been a busy bee with work, clinicals, tests, oh my. But hey, I'm still writing right? Right? I hope you liked this chapter. I sure did. And Working with Harry was a bit rough at first, but then i think i got the hang of it. Personally, I thought it was funny when Kreacher brought up the fact of him courting Zoe. This just might be a gag for the rest of the story maybe..not sure just yet. :) And sorry for lack of Sirius in this chapter. He didn't feel like taking the spotlight from Harry. Also, so many followers, so little reviews…I would love to hear from you guys! It would be awesome! Anyways, _**PLEASE LEAVE DETAILED REVIEWS AND OPINIONS! **_They are my crack and I'm addicted to them! I love to hear from you guys! ON TO THE _**SHOUT OUTS!:**_

_**kazetoame: **_It was a pretty good length of a chapter the last one at least, but I'm still working on making short chapters at least. Maybe five thousand or 7 thousand. Who knows how I'll be writing it. :) I also enjoyed Zoe and Hermionie's meeting as well. At first i was going to have Zoe meet Charlie Weasley in Diagon Alley, but i changed it at the last minute, figuring that meeting Hermionie would bring out Zoe's side of being a 'New Blood'. As for Sirius standing up to Molly: If someone was in my house, even if I don't like it, i would be punching them if they say that this stuff that i have should be there. It's none of their business. Thank you for reviewing! :D

_**Freerunner4427: **_Regulus is defiantly a dangerous person. I would think that his time with the Death Eaters as well as being under the influence of Walburga Black sort of made him a hardened man in a way. As for what may happen when the ministry steps in to put Umbridge in? Oh, that will be fun to write let me tell you. :D

_**Dancing-Souls: **_I liked the interaction with Zoe and Hermione too. They are similar in ways, but very different. :) Regulus teaching, now there's a scary thought. XD This is a route that i think people don't want to try in fear for Regulus being found out sooner. But I'm taking up that challenge! As for Sirius, he is focused on helping the Order, but that damn Tapestry is driving him up the wall. Here's a little twist: The place on the tapestry where Regulus is at, is still a skull. Chew on that for a while. XD

_**adenoide: **_ Yeah, let's face it, Dumbledore was making sure Harry was a sacrificial lamb front he beginning…Nuff said. As for Sirius, Given his history, the first thing he had was his family. Not James, Not Lupin, His family. He learned front hem at a young age and he formed his own opinions as he has gotten older. We really don't know much of about his past other than being pretty rebellious and a gryffindor, plus running away at 16. But he has that connection with his family whether he likes it or not. Sometimes between black and white is shades of grey.

_**TAL21: **_Okay, we are done with the _**Shout Outs!.** _Not too long ago I was listening to The Plagues from the Prince of Egypt and I thought of Regulus and Sirius. I wonder how it would apply to them really. It would be awesome. XD Alright, I'm heading off to bed and I hope you guys like the chapter! Please give me awesome reviews! See you in the next chapter! :D

_**QUESTION TIME!: **_Who would you like to see in the next chapter? Regulus will be at Hogwarts with Zoe (In Raven Form), and he will be meeting the staff and Dumbledore. How would he handle the situation?

_**KEEP ON READING AND WRITING! :D**_


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